The Role of Intellectual Property to Accelerate Sustainability Transitions

IPACST aims to develop evidence-based insights into IP models and how they accelerate sustainability transitions. This enables stakeholders of sustainability transitions to select suitable IP models in different situations. To contribute to a comprehensive understanding of IP models for sustainability transitions we bring together the fields of sustainability, IP and innovation management, together with political sciences and engineering addressing the following questions: 1) Which IP models do exist of relevance for sustainability transitions and how can they be typologized (e.g. from closed to completely open)? 2) Which IP models are employed by sustainable businesses and how do they match with sustainable business models? What is the role (inhibiting, stimulating) of IP models in adopting sustainable business models? 3) How do different types of IP models and business models accelerate (or prevent) the development, adoption and diffusion of sustainable innovations? Under what conditions (technological, regulatory, cultural, demand-supply factors, infrastructures) do different IP models best accelerate sustainability transitions? 4) What can we learn from best practice in sustainable businesses? What successful models exist? What are ideal combinations of sustainable business models and underlying IP models?