Int. J. Technology Transfer and Commercialisation, Vol. 13, Nos. 3/4, 2015 133 Copyright © 2015 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Innovation paradigms: contractual models for research and technology organisations Sanjay Bhardwaj* and Gadhe Padmanabham International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), Balapur, Hyderabad – 500 005, India Email: sanjayarci@gmail.com Email: gp@arci.res.in *Corresponding author Karuna Jain National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Vihar Lake, Mumbai – 400 087, India Email: nitie.director@gmail.com Shrikant V. Joshi Department of Engineering Science, University West, Gustava Melins Gata 2, SE- 461 86 Trollhättan, Sweden Email: me.svjoshi@gmail.com Abstract: Co-development partnerships are increasingly being used to enhance innovation effectiveness and leverage complementary capabilities of partner organisations. A perceptible transition from closed innovation paradigm to open innovation paradigm is also observed. This trend is consistent with the thinking that capabilities necessary for creating innovations are often not completely available within a single organisation. Furthermore, the intellectual property (IP) regime is getting stronger by the day. These changes in the macro-environment coupled with the need to access complementary capabilities have spurred the need for novel contractual models, which facilitate transactions involving IP and other assets between different organisations. In this backdrop, the authors have attempted to analyse the trend of contractual models that have either already been adopted or are in the process of adoption by an Indian research and technology organisation (RTO) involved in the development, demonstration and transfer of materials-based technologies. This paper specifically addresses issues associated with partnerships that attempt to embrace open innovation paradigm in the face of progressively strengthening IP regimes, and their implications on contractual models suited to an RTO, with illustrative examples. Keywords: innovation paradigm; intellectual property; open innovation; contractual models; research and technology organisations; RTOs; research and development; R&D; technology development; technology transfer; technology commercialisation; innovation; research.