AbstractThe aim of the paper is to identify a number of different patterns of international R&D cooperation during the initial phases of the product development process. This is a case‐study of new product development based on the work of the Olivetti Multimedia Laboratory in Pisa, how it set up its own pattern of multinational collaboration in the idea generation and pre‐competitive phase; how, in turn, this collaboration led to new R&D collaboration agreements to satisfy specific problem‐solving requirements connected with the confirmation of a dominant design, though limited to a certain extent by previous agreements between Olivetti and other firms; the role played by marketing in the choice of alternative solutions. Finally, in the product implementation phase, the emergence of a defined technological paradigm leads to a highly competitive environment, where R&D collaboration is increasingly directed towards multifunctional requirements (R&D, manufacturing, marketing) within a strategic network of alliances that involves large sized companies, start‐up firms, industrial and university researc