For some time, firms have used new channels established by Web 2.0 to develop platforms of innovation. Such structures of intermediation (this phenomenon is called “crowdsourcing”) link companies that are out of solutions for their R&D with Internet users (scientists, academics, researchers, and retired people). The winning challenge posted on the platform is rewarded by a prize. The objective of the article is to analyze the existing mechanisms on a specific platform (Innocentive). Our aim is to understand the contractual arrangements, whether in terms of intellectual property and transfer rights between actors or in terms of technical help proposed to the company to detect the best solutions to the challenge.
JEL Codes: L86, O3, O17, O32