18 Cecile Elffers 2006 19 M. Vertooren 2007 20 Teece 1986 citated by Vertooren 2007 21 Dany Jacobs 2005 p274

•secrecy / intellectual ownership [<<] Fashion doesn’t care much about secrecy,18 it even created a tradition of legal copying catwalk outfits (H&M) Technical companies think differently about that. ‘They are afraid that others will profit from there competitors’ knowledge.’19 But Teece says that most times the profit of an innovation is going to the owner of ‘complementary assets’20 instead of to the owner of the intellectual property. In other words: ‘complementary assets’ are the possibilities of applying knowledge in a relevant way. The ability to use knowledge more efficiently than their competitors gives them a destinct advantage. ‘Permanent combining of knowledge forms spillovers between various areas, and is a major factor in innovation.’21 So there must be an interaction between knowledge fields to create potential future developments. You have to trust each other otherwise you can’t collaborate. [<<]