Study On The Intellectual Property Risk In The Undertaking R&D Offshore Outsourcing

Currently, China is vigorously promoting the development of services outsourcing, especially Research and Development (R&D) offshore outsourcing. Through undertaking offshore outsourcing, Chinese enterprises can participate in global R&D and improve independent innovation capability by acquiring technology and the accumulation of experience Intellectual property (IP) risk is one of the most important risks which customers and vendors would encounter. However, the current studies mainly focus on customers'IP risks in the outsourcing, while few literatures mention the risk of the vendors'IP. In fact, as the provider of R&D achievement, the vendor is also under the IP risks, the development of relative industries in vendors' country would be restricted by the lack of vendor's IP risk precaution theories. For this reason, the paper is based on the vendors' perspective and carries out the in-depth study of IP risk management system in the R&D offshore outsourcing.Based on the theories of technological innovation, outsourcing, IP management and risk management, the research focus is now directed on vendors' IP risk management system, which includes the risk identification, assessment, and control. The study combines the methods of normative research, empirical research and comparative research, and the main contributions are as follows.(1)Based on the vendors' perspective, a framework of IP risk management in the R&D offshore outsourcing has been proposed.This paper argues that the vendor should strengthen the customer's IP protection and accumulate independent IP during undertaking the R&D offshore outsourcing in order to innovation capability. The main vendor's IP risks are infringement risk and title risk, and there are some other risks such as loss risk and assessment risk.(2) On enterprise level, the vendor's IP risk precaution system has been proposed.Through the normative analysis and empirical analysis of risk identification and risk assessment in the R & D offshore outsourcing, the paper argues that the vendor's IP risk precaution system should include:â‘ improving the management of intellectual property;â‘¡strengthening information security;â‘¢mining independent IP;â‘£completing the contract.For the improvement of IP management, the paper deeply discusses setting independent IP management document for each outsourcing project and giving the real-time monitoring for IP usage in outsourcing project. By analyzing the outsourcing theory and practice, the paper argues that the important approach for protecting the IP ownership is to accumulate independent IP while undertaking R&D project. The part of the discussed completing the contract, the paper mainly researches the foreground IP's sharing mechanism in R&D offshore outsourcing.(3)On national level and industry level, the measures of improving of IP protection has been proposed.On the national level, China should improve the IP system in the industry-oriented to promote the development of industry. At present, China should give priority to legislate about Information Security Act, to enhance the customs'confidence in China's data safety. On the industry level, the industry Association should fully play the leading role to establish the industry's "IP Firewall".