The paper is devoted to the choice between cooperative and competitive R&D models. It consists of 3 sections. The discussion is based on two models of the intellectual capital, advanced by T. Steward and P. Sullivan. This capital consists of human capital (knowledge, skills, capabilities, motivations) and infrastructural capital (software, data bases, and telecommunication solutions) (section 1). The intellectual capital, which often constitutes the most valuable asset of a company, is created as part of a complicated, costly, and long-lasting process of accumulation and transfer of knowledge and technology via free and commercial channels, and as a result of R&D activity as well. It activates a secondary and multi-directional process of diffusion of knowledge (spillovers) (section 2). R+D activities are realized in cooperative or competitive (independent) ways. S. A. Hörte (2004) discusses applicability of both the models in relation to results of the Prisoner’s Dilemma (Axelrod 1984) simulation by analyzing a three-dimensional matrix of variables (a firm’s strategy, phase of R&D, and its knowledge level). The conclusions, although not unequivocal, are, for some matches of variables, useful in practical decision-making. (section 3).