Open Innovation: A Flexible Practice for Intellectual Property Management in Pharmaceutical Sector

The paradigm shift in management from part to whole has led to a complete rethinking of the working system in the organizations today. Coupled with the globalization-led competitiveness, a pressing need for flexibility in management has become imperative. Open Innovation (OI) is one such practice which the organizations today are looking forward to cope with change, respond quickly to threats and opportunities and manage diverse and decentralized operations. OI which allows for the use of internal and external resources both, is being adopted across different organizations amidst diverse challenges to be met. The life sciences sector is catching up with the OI paradigm though the change is gradual due to the challenges in breaking free from the shackles of traditional vertically integrated model. The pharmaceutical firms are grappling to adjust in this environment with administrative, regulatory, legal and management of intellectual property (IP) challenges. With this background, the present chapter aims to explore the flexibility of organizations in adopting and using the open innovation practice with special reference to intellectual property management (IPM). The discussion is centered on the main theme “open innovation as a flexibility exercise in managing the intellectual property with special reference to patents in the pharmaceutical sector”. Based on the secondary data, i.e. varied sources of literature a conceptual discussion on the paradoxical nature and the synergistic effect of open innovation (OI) and intellectual property (IP) is attempted in this chapter. What different connotations/factors of flexibility are exercised in the pharmaceutical organizations to synergize the two processes and what challenges need to be handled in this context, are examined here. The findings of this study, though mainly contextual with partial empirical exercise may add to the conceptual understanding of open innovation and flexibility.