With this work, Martin Bader examines how companies can take an int- lectual property lead during the early stages of inter-firm research and - velopment (R&D) collaborations. Previously, little research has inves- gated the management of patents in the early phases of the innovation process. Furthermore, there is a dearth of research on patent management in the service industry sector, in which intellectual property management remains a new concept. Bader offers a detailed examination of the process by considering the service industry sector and analyzes a current, relevant, complex problem prominent in management research. The research at hand stems from two phenomena, both of which are based on knowledge gains achieved in the area of intellectual property management in recent years. First, the number of announced patent app- cations has increased by 20–30% per year — even without considering multiple patent registrations in several countries. Second, the number of collaborative agreements in the innovation process has simultaneously - creased. However, many R&D collaborations eventually turn out to be - successful, so the question arises: To whom does the intellectual property generated by a collaboration belong? This ownership often is decided and specified during the early phases of the R&D process.