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The purpose of this paper is to describe how the patent planning and patent evaluation processes might be redesigned for firms intending to move from a mere accumulation of patents to a more thoughtful patent management approach that couples protection with the reduction of cost related to patent file and maintenance.

An Action Research project was carried out in close collaboration with a firm. This approach was adopted since it allows generation of new scientific knowledge from the observation and direct intervention on a specific situation.

Results underline the importance of structuring and formalising the patent planning and patent evaluation processes within the firm. Moreover, it is suggested that the patent planning process should be integrated into the development of a new product/technology since its initial phases.

The paper contributes to filling the gap regarding the practical implementation and improvement of patent planning and patent evaluation processes, coupling protection with the minimisation of costs related to patent file and maintenance. However, as the results of Action Research studies are specific to the context where they took place, result generalisability is limited.

This paper provides managers with a valuable example on how to structure the patent planning and patent evaluation processes. The introduction of specific analyses into these processes allows limiting the decision-making subjectivity and, consequently, enhances the accuracy of firm investment in filing and maintaining its patents.

Providing a practical example of the actual implementation and improvement of the patent planning and patent evaluation processes, this paper responds to the recent call for more qualitative studies on intellectual property management.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence that different components of relational capital (marketing capability, open innovation with business and scientific partners, technological reputation, brand) have on customer performance (CP). Moreover, the moderating effect of absorptive capacity on such relationships is tested.

First, the direct relationship between the different components of relational capital and CP is analyzed through a linear regression model. Then, to test the moderating effect, two distinct regression analyses are conducted into two sub-samples, defined according to the level of absorptive capacity. The authors carried out these analyses on a sample of 150 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the medium- and high-tech B2B context.

Results of this study prove that CP is enhanced through firm marketing capability, open innovation with business partners and technological reputation, while brand and open innovation with scientific partner do not have an association with CP. In particular, the impact of marketing capability and open innovation with business actors on CP is greater for firms with higher absorptive capacity.

This paper, highlighting the relevance of relational capital and absorptive capacity in improving CP, enhances our knowledge about the factors that help to strengthen the relationships with customers, which is an under-investigated issue especially for SMEs competing in B2B industries, and extends our knowledge on open innovation practices.

Findings of this paper suggest that, to achieve better CP, managers should pay special attention to nurturing their marketing capability and high-quality relationships with external actors and invest in absorptive capacity to enhance the positive effect of such linkages.

This work, combining the external perspective of relational capital and the internal organizational dimension of absorptive capacity, provides valuable insights about the knowledge and resource mix that firms might rely on to achieve better customer satisfaction and loyalty.

The innovation process demands an interaction between environment agents, knowledge generators and policies of incentive for innovation and not only development by companies. Universities have gradually become the core of the knowledge production system and, therefore, their role regarding innovation has become more important and diversified. This study is aimed at identifying the mechanisms of university–industry (U–I) collaboration, as well as the operationalization steps of the U–I collaboration process.

This study is aimed at identifying, based on a systematic literature review, the mechanisms of university–industry (U–I) collaboration, as well as the operationalization steps of the U–I collaboration process.

The analysis of the 72 selected articles enabled identifying 15 mechanisms of U–I collaboration, proposing a new classification for such mechanisms and developing a framework presenting the operationalization steps of the interaction process.

In this paper, the authors screened nearly 1,500 papers and analyzed in detail 86 papers addressing U–I collaboration, mechanisms of U–I collaboration and operationalization steps of the U–I collaboration process. This paper provides a new classification for such mechanisms and developing a framework presenting the operationalization steps of the interaction process. This research contributes to both theory and practice by highlighting managerial aspects and stimulating academic research on such timely topic.