WP 1.4 on The Influence of Rules, Norms and Standards on Knowledge Exchange is devoted to research on Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs), including patents and copyrights and related rights. The working pack is cutting edge by addressing current controversial IPR issues affecting businesses, sectors, countries and societies today. Those controversies do also challenge the existing thinking and analytical frameworks dominating the theoretical literature on IPRs within economics, management, politics, law, and regulation theory. Various relevant themes are addressed during the life of the Network: See list below. Furthermore, click on links above to get information on the activities associated with the vaious themes. 

Period 01.11.2006 onwards: Three themes are addressed:

• Theme one:   Sector studies on Open and Proprietary Innovation Regimes: Opportunities and limitations of the open source models of innovation and the role of intellectual property rights (Coordinator Birgitte Andersen, in collaboration with Lee Davis and Francesco Rullani) 

When discussing the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on knowledge diffusion, when investigating the creation of value through community-based innovation, when imagining policies able to improve the IPR structure, what is really at stake is a broader and more fundamental question: "What is the most suitable structure for knowledge production?" Until recently, it was commonly assumed that innovation benefited from the firm's ability to appropriate the rents from its investments in R&D, through the use of intellectual property rights, secrecy, and the like. This assumption is being increasingly challenged. The growth, widespread use, and establishment of alternative models of knowledge creation and appropriation all raise the intriguing possibility that innovation might successfully be incubated under far more open conditions, often associated with non-proprietary IPRs. Thus, ‘Open Source' or ‘Free' development methods have raised their profile, and the use of General Public Licence (GPL), Copyleft, Creative Commons licence, and other licensing forms, as well as new approaches like "free revealing" and "crowd sourcing", etc., are not unfamiliar alternatives. Especially the software sector has experimented with such alternatives. Thus, focus on discussing the opportunities and limitations of the free and open source models of innovation in the context of intellectual property rights, and in the context of a variety of sectors. Output is in the form of a conference and research papers which can be found on the DIME web site on the Rules, Norms and Standards

• Theme two: Sector Study: The Creative Industries and Intellelctual Property (Coordinator Birgitte Andersen)

The Creative Industries are widely cited as an increasingly important part of national economies both in terms of impact and size as well as job creation and value added to Gross Domestic Product. They are also heralded as a potential source of national competitiveness, an important area of current and future export and a key contributor to the knowledge economy.  In line with many national government policies, a central aim of this part of the network is to support the creative industries and their participants by raising their profile and by assisting their development, in order to support their businesses and the cultural expressions of societies. The research based discussions contributes by comparing, discussing and analysing if and how the current rules, norms and standards stimulate and/or hinder creativity, innovation and the appropriation of knowledge and value in the creative industries. The topic of Intellectual property rights (IPRs) is central, but other related intellectual property observations are also considered. Output is in the form of a conference and research papers which can be found on the DIME web site on the Rules, Norms and Standards

• Theme three: The Performance of IPR Systems and Differences in Potentials for Growth: Complementary Data Base Development Activities for policy making on innovation and competition(Coordinators: Paola Giuri and Myriam Mariani)

This part of the DIME network aims at mapping researchers and institutions working on the micro-foundations of IPRs by means of a survey of existing theoretical work, empirical contributions and data sources; promoting research collaborations on topics related to IPRs; diffusing research results within the DIME network and outside it. The team is collecting a large number of existing contributions on the role of Intellectual Property Rights, and mapping the key research institutions and the key researchers who contribute to issue of the micro-foundations of IPRs. Output is in the form of a conference and research papers which can be found on the DIME publication web sites (core output also include this paper and this paper).

Period 01.05-2005 to 31.10.2006: Two themes are addressed:

• Theme one: Rules, norms and standards in the institutional IPR environment. (Coordinator Birgitte Andersen) 

Focus is on the ability of the IPR system to meet the originally intended objectives in terms of stimulating innovation-based competition; facilitating spill-over and expansion of knowledge based ideas and creative expressions of ideas; rewarding inventiveness and creativity throughout the economic system; and in terms of facilitating sustainable development of firms and industries . The implications of our results for appropriate IPR policy at the national and international level, is of particular concern. Output is in the form of a workshop, a conference and research papers which can be found on the DIME web site on the Rules, Norms and Standards

• Theme two: Rules, norms and standards in corporate and sectoral IPR practices when profiting from technological innovations and innovations in creative expressions. (Coordinator Birgitte Andersen)

Focus is on the nature of collaboration, competition, IPR governance, IPR markets, licensing practices and industrial context; and influence of those factors on the performance of IPR based firms and industrial sectors. The implications of our results for appropriate strategic management of IPRs at the corporate and sectoral level, is of particular concern. Output is in the form of a workshop, a conference and research papers which can be found on the DIME web site on the Rules, Norms and Standards