Identifying the drawbacks of joint patents: An evaluation of IPR sharing in R&D alliances in Biotechnology Firms in Singapore

Abstract

R&D alliances in the biotechnology industry have always been common in order to fulfill the demands and needs of the involved parties to carry out their innovation processes. The increasing trend of R&D alliances in the biotechnology industry in Singapore has also promoted IPR sharing in R&D alliances. This mechanism has promoted the concept of joint patents in this regard. Thus, the present study focused on the drawbacks of joint patents in R&D alliances in biotech firms in Singapore. For this purpose, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five employers from different biotech firms in Singapore. The collected data was then analyzed using NVivo software, and project map and tree maps were formulated for each research objective. The results obtained from this study showed that R&D alliances are effective in improving the financial and innovation performance of biotechnology firms. It has also been observed that IPR sharing in these alliances is effective in promoting technology and knowledge transfer. However, various drawbacks of joint patents were also observed, including financial issues, technology-related issues, and legal issues.