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Integrating intellectual property and sustainable business models : The SBM-IP canvas

Hernández-Chea, Roberto LU ; Vimalnath, Pratheeba ; Bocken, Nancy LU ; Tietze, Frank and Eppinger, Elisabeth (2020) In Sustainability (Switzerland) 12(21).
Abstract

Companies attempt to address global sustainability challenges through innovating products, services, and business models. This paper focuses on sustainable business model (SBM) innovations as a way to systemically transform businesses towards sustainability. It has been widely recognized that strategic approaches to using intellectual property (IP) need to be aligned with business model innovation for commercial success. Here we suggest that IP, aligned with SBMs, can also be used to create not only commercial, but also societal and environmental impact. Knowledge about how to best align IP with SBMs to drive sustainability transitions remains limited. We address this gap by developing an SBM-IP canvas that integrates IP considerations... (More)

Companies attempt to address global sustainability challenges through innovating products, services, and business models. This paper focuses on sustainable business model (SBM) innovations as a way to systemically transform businesses towards sustainability. It has been widely recognized that strategic approaches to using intellectual property (IP) need to be aligned with business model innovation for commercial success. Here we suggest that IP, aligned with SBMs, can also be used to create not only commercial, but also societal and environmental impact. Knowledge about how to best align IP with SBMs to drive sustainability transitions remains limited. We address this gap by developing an SBM-IP canvas that integrates IP considerations into each of the SBM canvas building blocks. We do this by employing relevant theoretical concepts from three literature streams, namely the business model (including SBM), IP, and innovation literature. We use case examples to illustrate different IP considerations that are relevant for the SBM-IP building blocks. These examples show that different IP types (e.g., patents, trademarks) and ways of using them (e.g., more or less restrictive licensing) are applied by companies in relation to the different building blocks. While covering new theoretical ground, the proposed SBM-IP canvas can help decision makers understand how they can use different IP types strategically to propose, create, deliver, and capture sustainable value for society, environment, and the business.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Business model canvas, Intellectual property (IP), IP strategy, Sustainability transition, Sustainable business models (SBMs)
in
Sustainability (Switzerland)
volume
12
issue
21
article number
8871
pages
30 pages
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • scopus:85094176687
ISSN
2071-1050
DOI
10.3390/su12218871
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
4bfc6f71-0fba-4ed2-a896-ff410f291c32
date added to LUP
2020-11-05 13:48:28
date last changed
2022-04-19 01:42:33
@article{4bfc6f71-0fba-4ed2-a896-ff410f291c32,
  abstract     = {{<p>Companies attempt to address global sustainability challenges through innovating products, services, and business models. This paper focuses on sustainable business model (SBM) innovations as a way to systemically transform businesses towards sustainability. It has been widely recognized that strategic approaches to using intellectual property (IP) need to be aligned with business model innovation for commercial success. Here we suggest that IP, aligned with SBMs, can also be used to create not only commercial, but also societal and environmental impact. Knowledge about how to best align IP with SBMs to drive sustainability transitions remains limited. We address this gap by developing an SBM-IP canvas that integrates IP considerations into each of the SBM canvas building blocks. We do this by employing relevant theoretical concepts from three literature streams, namely the business model (including SBM), IP, and innovation literature. We use case examples to illustrate different IP considerations that are relevant for the SBM-IP building blocks. These examples show that different IP types (e.g., patents, trademarks) and ways of using them (e.g., more or less restrictive licensing) are applied by companies in relation to the different building blocks. While covering new theoretical ground, the proposed SBM-IP canvas can help decision makers understand how they can use different IP types strategically to propose, create, deliver, and capture sustainable value for society, environment, and the business.</p>}},
  author       = {{Hernández-Chea, Roberto and Vimalnath, Pratheeba and Bocken, Nancy and Tietze, Frank and Eppinger, Elisabeth}},
  issn         = {{2071-1050}},
  keywords     = {{Business model canvas; Intellectual property (IP); IP strategy; Sustainability transition; Sustainable business models (SBMs)}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{21}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{Sustainability (Switzerland)}},
  title        = {{Integrating intellectual property and sustainable business models : The SBM-IP canvas}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12218871}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/su12218871}},
  volume       = {{12}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}