In the context of

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

(R&D) collaborations, background, foreground, sideground and postground intellectual property (IP) are four distinct forms of

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

assets. These are included in the broader and more general categories of knowledge in R&D collaborations or

open innovation Open innovation is a term used to promote an information age mindset toward innovation that runs counter to the secrecy and silo mentality of traditional corporate research labs. The benefits and driving forces behind increased openness have bee ...

. While background and foreground IP and knowledge are fairly established concepts, sideground and postground IP and knowledge have more recently been added to the conceptual vocabulary. This set of four concepts was first introduced by Prof. Ove Granstrand in a European Commission report in 2001. The four knowledge/IP types are defined by Granstrand and Holgersson (2014): *Background knowledge/IP is knowledge/IP that is relevant to a collaborative venture or open innovation project that is supplied by the partners at the start of the project. *Foreground knowledge/IP is all the knowledge/IP produced within the collaborative venture or open innovation project during the project’s tenure. *Sideground knowledge/IP is knowledge/IP that is relevant to a collaborative venture or open innovation project, but produced outside the project by any of the partners during the project’s tenure. *Postground knowledge/IP is knowledge/IP that is relevant to a collaborative venture or open innovation project that is produced by any of the partners after the project ends.

References

Further reading