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This paper focuses on an unnoticed theme in the current debate on Open Innovation, namely the foundational question whether this model is actually a paradigm. Its purpose is to go a step further by analysing its internal consistency. The paper argues that the two broad topics of the model, technology market and in/out-sourcing, seem to refer to theoretical assumptions provided by different conceptual frameworks. Focused, first on the technology market, second on the compatibility between the two proposals, it shows that critical uncertainty should be considered in order to understand both relational contracts on technology and motivations to co-operate. Due to this inconsistency, its paradigmatic dimension remains to be demonstrated.JEL Codes: 031, 032, 034, L2