Antonio, Most of the time, a new design or a new invention is not intellectual property of one company only, instead they fund a certain research group to get the required technology. The invention or research is still an intellectual property of the research group or scientist with special license for the company that funded the research. They might not allow other companies to get the designs for a few months or a year, so that they can market it first but eventually other companies pay for the license and produce a product.

electronics assembly

Multiple manufacturers of the same device
 

"andrew89" wrote in message
...

Antonio, Most of the time, a new design or a new invention is not
intellectual property of one company only, instead they fund a certain
research group to get the required technology. The invention or research
is still an intellectual property of the research group or scientist
with special license for the company that funded the research. They
might not allow other companies to get the designs for a few months or a
year, so that they can market it first but eventually other companies
pay for the license and produce a product.

That depends on the nature of the contract. Frequently the contract
transfers
all rights in the development, "He who pays the piper calls the tune.".