In the worldwide knowledge-based economy, intellectual property (IP) is recognised as a key business asset. In the digital economy, whether for large corporates, SMEs or start-ups, it is not uncommon that innovative technologies, devices (products) and services are built from a complex set of IP. As organisations increasingly employ open innovation processes, IP is likely to not only result from internal R&D, but also from external sources, such as R&D partners, complementors and even competitors. Building and maintaining IP-based competitive advantage then rests on the effective acquisition (internal and external), exploitation and enforcement of IP. When having to manage complex IP portfolios and actor relations, an IP strategy is useful to provide guidance to decision makers. While business executives often express the need for better IP management tools and IP strategy formulation approaches, the corresponding literature is surprisingly scarce.

In this thesis, a roadmapping-based approach is proposed for IP strategy formulation. While roadmapping is a widely adopted approach for strategy formulation at all firm levels, it has hardly been discussed in the IP management literature. Therefore, based on the strategic roadmapping approach, the IP roadmapping framework and the practical process model were developed for especially IP strategy formulation. The proposed IP strategy formulation approach integrates different strategy levels, provides clear visibility and facilitates communication and consensus among stakeholders in order to increase the prospects for better decision-making.

The IP strategy formulation process is business centric, starting with an identification of business strategy objectives that can be supported by the means of IP, for instance, the creating of entry barriers and minimisation of the threats from substitutes. Throughout the process, these IP objectives are gradually translated into specific IP actions. The roadmapping approach then allows to align the timing and sequencing of these IP actions in support of the organisation’s business objectives. The sequence of the IP actions can then be synthesised into a coherent IP strategy.

The roadmapping-based IP strategy formulation approach was developed using a procedural action research approach. The prototype has been developed based on literature review and 20 interviews in total with IP or roadmapping experts, and then the approach has been tested and refined through three action research cycles based on 12 interviews with 17 IP practitioners and roadmapping experts, and 14 roadmapping workshops involving IP managers, innovation experts and business executives of large international companies, SMEs and start-ups.

Accordingly, this research contributes to both practice and theory. It not only provides a novel roadmapping approach which enables and facilitates structured conversations among executives, innovation, technology and IP experts, who often find it difficult to engage in conversations about IP decision making, but also contributes to the IP management literature in which there is a paucity of studies on IP strategy formulation in practice. It also contributes to the roadmapping literature proposing a novel use case for this widely adopted strategy formulation approach. Additionally, this research also contributes to the strategic management literature with elaborations on the concepts of IP strategy and strategic alignment.

The next stage for this research will be disseminating the tool widely and evaluating its commercialisation value for different purposes. This is going to be completed through close collaboration with IfM ECS and one independent technical consulting firm specialising in matters relating to IP. In addition, to help equip entrepreneurs with the tools they need for IP strategy formulation, the materials developed through this research will be made available online for downloading. The hope is that the materials can enable companies to conduct IP strategy formulation exercises by themselves, but also that this openly accessible material will be picked up by entrepreneurship teaching programmes. By spreading good practice on IP strategy formulation, it is expected that the toolkit can help companies to overcome some of the obstacles and maximise value from their IP.