Under this "old" model of intellectual property (IP), biotech firms raced to file a "fortress" of patents around newly discovered genes, closing off avenues of research for their competitors.
Such increases are putting the pressure on Apple competitors such as Research in Motion, Motorola, Nokia, and Google to keep up.
But efforts like World Coffee Research, which aim to persuade competitors to tackle common problems, face obstacles.
This squeezes prices and margins, thus denying better-run firms the surplus capital they need to hire talented people, buy competitors or invest in research and development.
Three years ago Caterpillar opted not to follow competitors down the conventional research path and instead gambled on a new technology it believed would be more efficient.
Microsoft failed to play catch-up with its competitors Apple iPhone, Research in Motion BlackBerry and Google Android in terms of mobile software innovation.
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So far the antiresearch crowd has forced the company to close a small operation that distributed primates in the U.K. Remarkably, antivivisectionists have not pursued Foster in the U.S. A bigger challenge to preclinical research may be to beat out such competitors as Covance, which originally specialized in human clinical trials, and MDS, a provider of contract drug discovery services.
One of the reasons why I am so bullish on Taobao and Alipay is based on my on-the-ground research in China and discussions with users and competitors.
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As some investors face jitters about how low Apple (AAPL) stock can go, astute investors have been enjoying handsome profits in Apple competitors Nokia (NOK) and Research In Motion (RIMM).
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It can take years of research to win the race for answers ahead of competitors.
My research shows that Apple is more dependent on subsidies than its competitors.
According to research compiled by Revere Data, Thomson and all of its competitors fell, totalling an average of 2.3%.
That's like Eastman Kodak putting 80% of its marketing and research and development budgets into traditional film and standing by while competitors cash in on the explosion in digital photography.
That's like Eastman Kodak (nyse: EK - news - people ) putting 80% of its marketing and research and development budgets into traditional film and standing by while competitors cash in on the explosion in digital photography.
One reason for Mr Jobs's short fuse may be that Apple's relatively skinny research and development budget has to work much harder than those of competitors who benefit from the huge spending of Microsoft and Intel.
In the agriculture sector alone, Monsanto and its competitors are spending billions of dollars annually on agricultural biotechnology research, pursuing traits that make crops higher yielding and more resistant to various environmental stresses, and to make grains with increased nutritional value.
Gallup's honeypot has attracted a swarm of competitors, among them Development Dimensions International, Hewitt Associates and International Survey Research.
Companies spend millions of dollars in customer research to influence product formulations, tweak service offerings and get a leg up on competitors.
The backing is meant to answer the criticism that Europe lags behind more dynamic competitors such as the United States and China in economic growth and scientific research.
Research outfit Thomas White points out that FTI is expensive at 22 times trailing earnings compared with 15 for competitors.
If our potential entrepreneur were to follow the typical reasoning governing risk, he would do in-depth research to estimate not only the size of the market, but also all the risks he might face (competitors, changing market conditions, etc.).
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Fidelity Investments and American Funds, among the largest in the category, saw redemptions or weak investor interest compared with competitors, according to an analysis of mutual-fund flows done for The Wall Street Journal by research firm Strategic Insight, a unit of New York-based Asset International.
That index measures factors like licensing, philanthropy, research and development and pricing by company, offering companies the opportunity to benchmark their responsibility efforts against those of their competitors.
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