State of Design: The Canadian Report 2010

Intellectual Property Rights

A greater proportion of Best–in–Class firms^{Footnote F} adopt measures to ensure the legal protection of intellectual property (IP). Different methods exist to prevent imitation and protect ideas; examples include, but are not limited to, confidentiality agreements, secrecy, and patents. As a result of securing IP protection, firms have greater ability to protect their competitive advantage of being first to market.

 

 

 

 

In addition, securing intellectual property rights (IPRs) has become an important aspect of outsourcing between manufacturers and PD&D service providers, as 68 percent of North American firms perceive an increased risk to their product IP protection due to the globalization of markets.⁸

Service providers can assist businesses in protecting IP by specifying ownership of the IPR at the onset of a project. For example, service providers can agree to assign IPRs after the contract's completion; this means that the IPR is assigned to the service provider for the duration of the outsourcing contract and will transfer back to the customer upon completion of the project. Under this arrangement, the service provider may cooperate in preparing patent applications or can maintain the PD&D process as a trade secret.⁸

Footnotes

Footnote 6

Best–in–Class firms are defined as those that generate more than 35 percent of their revenue from new or significantly improved products.

Return to footnote F referrer