Building External Network on Intellectual Property Through Joint R&D Service Outsourcing: The Case of Taiwan´s SMEs

While the effect of division of labor and specialization meets the trend of technology changes, the economic scale of joint R&D service is complementary with the nature of the resource limited SMEs (Small Medium Enterprises). As a latecomer country, Taiwan´s industry experienced numerous intellectual property (IP) litigations and infringements from their competitors since the 1990s. This study demonstrates that how Taiwan´s SMEs overcame this difficulty through joint R&D service outsourcing, which is emerging as a new and important catalyze to reinforce its innovative capacity and build its external network on intellectual property activities. The jointed efforts associated with interdisciplinary experts greatly increase the `freedom of action´ on product commercialization and reduce business risks from marketing and patent infringements where the potential benefits are huge. The most important result of this study indicates the importance of government funding and the significance of joint R&D outsourcing for the fast-follower Taiwan´s SMEs, in which IP value-added and R&D outcome will achieve a more comprehensive protection, by means of building IP portfolio including patents, designs, trademarks and trade secrets