Commercialisation of Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property can have significant commercial and financial benefits for individual, research groups and the Universities including:

· It converts knowledge into tangible assets which can be transferred, assigned and licensed;
· It can generate significant royalty revenues for the University and the researchers;
· Inventors qualify for income obtained from licensing in the form of royalty payment;
· It can provide a legal monopoly in technology niche area.

Intellectual Property is an area of law which concerns legal rights associated with creative effort or commercial reputation and goodwill. Intellectual property refers to creations of the human mind. The legal system of intellectual property rights converts this innovative and creative output into property and thus into valuable tradable assets. Human ingenuity and insight manifest in the form of new and/or original ideas, inventions, information, creative expressions, knowledge and other such intangibles that may be embedded in or relate to the products and services that we so depend on in our daily lives.

Thus, new and improved technology, know-how, confidential information, software and databases, creative expression in the making of instruction manuals, books, plays, movies, videotapes, television productions, music, multimedia, the image, reputation and goodwill linked to trustworthy names of goods and services, business identifiers, etc., can be protected by a range of intellectual property and certain aspects of unfair competition laws. The law deters others from copying or taking unfair advantage of the work or reputation of another and provides remedies should this happen. The most common types of intellectual property:-

· Copyright
· Patents
· Trade Marks
· Industrial Design
· Trade Secret.
· Geographical Indication
· Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits



Copyright
Copyright law is governed by the Copyright Act 1987. Copyright is a property right which subsists in various “works” for example literary works, artistic works, music works, sound recording, films and broadcast. The author of a work is the person who creates it and he (or his employer) is normally the first owner of the copyright which will last until 50 years after the author’s death[1]. In sound recordings, broadcast and films, copyright protection is 50 years after the first works are published or made. Copyright gives the owner the right to do certain things in relation to the work which include making copy, broadcasting or giving a public performance. Anyone else, who does any of these things without the consent of the owner, infringes copyright and may be sued by the owner for infringement. Ownership of a copyright is transferable to another or a licence may be granted by the owner to another, permitting him to do one or more specified acts with the work in question.



Patent
Patent is governed by the Patent Act 1983. A patent right is where it gives its owner the monopoly over his invention. A patent may be granted in respect of the new invention if it new, involves and inventive steps and is industrially applicable. If these criteria are met it gives a monopoly right that can last up twenty (20) years. This very strong form of protection is reserved for inventions that satisfy rigorous standards (for example , novelty and inventiveness) and an application for a patent has to be drawn up precisely and accurately stating the scope of the invention and the claims made in respect of it for which the protection is sought. The application is made available for public inspection after 18 months period from either the date of priority or date of filing of application. Patents can be assigned and licenses may be granted in respect of them. The owner of a patent is the person who is registered as the proprietor. A large number of inventions are made by the employees and usually, in such cases, the employer will be the proprietor although the inventors will be still named as such.

Trade Mark
The Trade Mark protection is governed by the Trade Marks Act 1976. Trade marks may not have the glamour of inventions or creative works but they are, nevertheless, of substantial importance in an industrial and commercial sense. Trade marks are closely associated with business image, goodwill and reputation. Goods or services are often requested by reference to a trade mark and the public rely on many marks as indicating the quality, value for money or origin of the goods or services. The period of protection is 10 years, renewable for a period of every ten years thereafter. The proprietor of the trade mark or service mark has the right to deal or assign as well as to licence its use.

Industrial Design
Industrial Design protection is governed by the Industrial Design Act 1996. It provides the rights of registered industrial design as that of a personal property. To be eligible for registration, industrial design must be new and do not include a method of construction or design that is dictated solely by function. In addition, the design of the article must not be dependent upon the appearance of another article of which it forms an integral part. The right can either be assigned as well licence its use.

Trade Secret
Trade secret can be any useful information that is not generally known. A popular definition is “anything you don’t want the competition to know”. Other terms used for trade secrets are “confidential information’, proprietary information and “know how”. The trade secrets are generally divided into two sorts: technical and business secrets. Technical trade secrets are found in research and development, secret formulas, designs, computer source code, manufacturing tools and the like. Business trade secrets a much more broader category, cover the vast pool of marketing, sales, and financial and administrative data used to manage business. Trade secret cannot cover information that is generally known to professionals in the field or generalized know-how.


Geographical Indication
The Geographical Indication Act 2000 provides protection upon the registration to goods following the name of a place where the goods are produced, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the goods is essential attributable to their geographical origin. Protection of geographical indications shall be given regardless whether or not the geographical indication is registered and as against another geographical indication which, although literary true as to the country, territory, region or locality in which the goods originated, falsely represents to the public that the goods originated in another country, territory, region or locally. In the case of registered geographical indications, only producers carrying on their activities in the geographical area specified in the register shall have the exclusive right to use a registered geographical indication in the course of the trade. A registered geographical indication is given 10 years of protection from the date of filing and is renewable for every ten years.

Layout-Designs of Integrated Circuits
Layout-Designs of Integrated Circuits is governed by the Layout-Designs of Integrated Circuits Act 2000. A layout-design of an integrated circuit is the three dimensional disposition of the elements of an integrated circuit and some or all of the interconnections of the integrated circuit or such three dimensional disposition prepared for an integrated circuit intended for manufacture. A layout design is eligible for protection automatically upon fulfillment of the following conditions.

· It is original. i.e the result of its creator’s own intellectual effort and not common place among creators and manufacturers of integrated circuit,
· It has been foxed in a material form or incorporated into an integrated circuit;
· The right holder of the layout-design is a qualified person.

A layout-design is protected for the period of 10 years from the first date it is commercially exploited. Notwithstanding this, the protection granted lapses 15 years after the date it is created.


2. COMMERCIALISATION

“Successful commercialisation is the result of driving home competitive advantage. The key input [is] the needs of the marketplace. It is therefore imperative that R&D incorporates into its decision making process some commercial judgments. Indeed, the difference between market pull R&D and technical push is just that: coming at the R&D challenge by posing an acceptable market solution and conducting R&D to achieve it, rather than pushing forward the frontiers of knowledge and then looking for market acceptance”[2]

Intellectual property assets can be commercially exploited by their owner or with the permission of the owner by others. One way for others to exploit intellectual property is through licensing the intellectual property from the owner. The word “license” simply means permission granted by the owner of the intellectual property right to another to use it on agreed terms and conditions, for a defined purpose, in a defined territory and for an agreed period of time. Licensing of intellectual property is often considered in three broad categories, namely technology licenses, publishing and entertainment licenses, and trademark and merchandising licenses. These categories are, however, not watertight compartments. This Handbook will not be dealing with aspects specific to publishing and entertainment licenses or to trademark and merchandising licenses. Its focus will be on commercialisation of a technology and technology licensing, which mainly involve patents. Software licensing, which may in some countries be protected by patents and could, therefore, fall within technology licensing.

Only companies that continue to provide better products and services at a lower price will be competitive, profitable and maintain an edge in a market economy that is globalized, fast moving and demanding. A better product may be a new product or it may be a superior product. A superior product may result, for example, from an improved manufacturing process that increases cost-effectiveness by reducing production time and/or using fewer resources. Such a product may be superior by virtue of its new features, higher quality, lower cost or a combination of these.

Only companies that continue to provide better products and services at a lower price will be competitive, profitable and maintain an edge in a market economy that is globalized, fast moving and demanding. A better product may be a new product or it may be a superior product. A superior product may result, for example, from an improved manufacturing process that increases cost-effectiveness by reducing production time and/or using fewer resources. Such a product may be superior by virtue of its new features, higher quality, lower cost or a combination of these. How do companies meet this demand for new or better products and services, and provide these at a competitive price? The traditional drivers of economic growth: land, labor and capital, are no longer sufficient to provide the necessary competitive advantage that makes the difference between companies that are otherwise very similar to one another. The answer lies in new or improved technology.

A technology can be defined as “technology is the practical use of scientific information.” Therefore, broadly speaking, technology refers to end products of scientific research and development in the form of inventions and know-how which are used as tools or processes for creating new or improved products and services that better serve the needs of the market. There is often a tendency to equate one patent with one technology. This is rarely the case nowadays. Increasingly, a number of patents together are responsible for a technology and a number of technologies for a product, for example, a camera or a car. Such technology may be acquired either through research and development undertaken by the company itself, in cooperation with others, or by acquiring technology developed by others which may be on offer in the market. Often, it is prudent to obtain technology from others instead of investing the time and resources to find the perfect solution oneself; this would be the case, for example, if the necessary technology cannot be developed in-house for reasons of cost, timeframe, human resources and complimentary assets, it may make good business sense to use or adapt a technological solution that has already been found by others and is available on the market.

Sometimes, it may even be necessary to obtain licenses for technologies which are part of industry, national or international standards set by standard-setting organizations. A license may be necessary in a situation where a new or improved product inadvertently violates the intellectual property rights owned by another. Further, a company that has come up with a new or better product or process will do well to know that there may be others searching for such a solution and it could be a good business option to transfer that knowledge and earn a bonus from an additional source of income. In fact, a number of companies have either shifted from manufacturing of products to licensing of intellectual property in the form of patents and know-how or have been set up with the sole objective of creating and licensing intellectual property without manufacturing any products. In other words, the technology becomes the product.

Today, even the largest companies are no longer doing everything in-house and depend on outside sources not only for key components and services but also for technologies. Some other companies just develop technology and outsource the manufacture of the products to other companies in their own country or abroad by entering into a licensing agreement for this purpose. Given the intangible character of technology, its use by one does not detract from its use by another. In other words, it can be used simultaneously by many users for the same or different purposes without impacting in any way on its quality or functionality. Therefore, the owner of technology could potentially license the use of his technology to as many licensees as he wishes, maximising the earning potential of his technology constrained only by the terms of the agreements that he enters into with the potential licensees. In a sense, one technology could become the basis for a whole range of related or unrelated products and services made by one or many enterprises in a potentially large number of locations in one or many countries.
Intellectual property licensing and technology transfer are important factors in strategic alliances, joint ventures and so-called turnkey contracts. Technology licenses, which, as indicated above, are one type of intellectual property license, fall within the broad concept of technology transfer. Technology transfer is to transfer existing technology for application by a new user in the same area of application or in a completely new area of application by the same or a new user. It could be effected by an activity as simple as teaching and as commonly as the hiring of skilled workers to the formalising of contracts including technology licensing contracts.

to be continued

[1] Some countries have extended term to 70 years
[2] Australian ship builders Association and Austime Submission to The Industry Commission inquiry report “ Research and Development “ May 1995, p 37

Intellectual Property Audit

Intellectual Property Audit - A "How to" Guide.

“If you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it”.

Perhaps the above-mentioned expression is the single most compelling reason for any company, particularly an SME, to conduct an intellectual property (IP) Audit. But what should be measured and how can we begin the process?

An IP Audit is defined as a systematic review of the IP assets owned, used or acquired by a business. Its purpose is to uncover under-utilized IP assets, to identify any threats to a company’s bottom line, and to enable business planners to devise informed strategies that will maintain and improve the company’s market position.

In many cases SME’s do not have the resources to conduct a full audit of all its IP and will find it difficult to put a value to each of the components making up an IP portfolio. Putting aside these difficulties, and at the risk of reducing the exercise to the “too-hard basket” it is important for every business to document and value what is, in many cases, its most important intangible assets.

An Example of an IP Audit

At the very least an IP Audit should identify just what IP assets are owned by a business and just how important those are to the firm. As an example, let’s take the mythical Company, Aglaia. Aglaia is an SME employing 50 staff and has both import and export potential for its patented tea-tree formulations and associated health products. The company has been reasonably successful but faces stiff competition in the niche “Natraceutical” market. The Company has a house brand and a number of product brands.

The first step in the Audit process is to identify the readily identifiable IP. Assets falling into this category will include any registered trademarks, copyrights, designs or patents owned by the business, any licenses to third parties and any licenses from third parties, including cross-licenses. Also included in this category are things such as in-house work manuals, databases, recipes, franchise agreements, publications and product/process know-how. Once identified the IP’s are then scrutinized to determine who owns them, whether they have not lapsed (remain registered) and enforceable and whether they are being effectively used. The Individual components are also given an importance rating – by looking at factors such as whether or not they are embodied to core technologies, the life expectancy of the underlying IP in the said technology and the potential or actual exclusivity of the technology.

The second step is to itemize what might be termed external or market influences. These will include the company brand, product brands, company and product get-up, goodwill, product certification, export certifications, regulatory approvals, distribution and raw material networks, client lists, and marketing and advertising programs.

In trying to estimate the value of any of these items, a good question to ask is how much will it cost to replace the item if it were lost, what is the expected income, e.g. in the next five years, that can be generated by the underlying IP assets and how is it being used. Several IP valuation methods can be used to establish the value of an underlying IP asset.

To conclude, an IP Audit makes sound business sense. Not only can an Audit identify company strengths and weaknesses, it is also an extremely useful tool that can be used to bring together all of the different departments within an organization. All departments have an interest in some shape or form as to how a product is made, what goes into the product, how it is packaged, marketed and the price at which it is placed on the shop shelf – and as stated at the beginning -

“if you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it”.

By Ian Cockburn1

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The Role of Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation in commercialisation of Intellectual Property

In the early era, the creations and inventions fell in a public domain, where anyone could copy these creations without any restriction, or payment. However, with the passage of time, the importance and value of these creations was realized. The commercial aspect then, started assuming a significant role in these creations. By the end of the twentieth century, the products created and invented by the human mind were recognised as INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY of the owner. These were also known as intangible properties.

Intellectual Property rights are like any other property rights – they allow the creator, or owner of a patent, trademark, or copyright to benefit from their own creation or work or investment. These rights are outlined in Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which sets forth the right benefit from the protection of moral and material interests resulting from authorship and any scientific, literary, or artistic production.

The Intellectual Property Rights are essentially recognized and accepted all over the world due to some very important reasons. Some of the reasons for accepting these rights are:-

a) Providing an incentive to the individual for new creations,

b) Providing due recognition to the creators and inventors,

c) Ensuring material rewards for Intellectual property; and

d) Ensuring the availability of genuine and original products.

The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) was given the responsibility to manage Research & Development (R&D) related funds amounting to RM 2.7billion for portfolios such as the Inno-Fund, Science-Fund and Technology fund in the 9^th Malaysian Plan. R&D requires large amounts of financial commitments from industries. R&D consortium/alliance provides collaboration and cost sharing for R&D projects while the government provides incentives to encourage the formation of R&D alliance. R&D cooperation among industries, research institutions and academic institutions should be encouraged to ensure that the direction of R&D will meet the future needs of industries.

The commercialisation of intellectual property is a formidable challenge, even for developed countries. It is therefore no surprise that despite a huge amount of funding by the Government of Malaysia, the commercialisation rate is still low. The value of commercialized products as a result of R&D carried out is about 3.4% from the fund allocation. It is acknowledged that as anticipated, the percentage of the products commercialized is small and therefore there is a need to further drive the commercialization effort to generate more revenue from R&D.

Source: Patent Granted by Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO)

With the huge amount of money spent on R&D, Malaysia is still not competitive enough compared to neighbouring countries in filing and obtaining patents. Patents granted for local applicants are less that 5% compared to foreign applicants. Research findings show that there are two schools of thought among researchers. One group claims that as a researcher it is their social responsibility to publish their findings and the another feels that commercialisation is important for economic growth.

The New Innovation Model which was endorsed by the National Innovation Council, chaired by The Honourable former Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi provides a guideline to support the innovation capacity and capability development in Malaysia. What is the role of MOSTI in this scenario? MOSTI, as the secretariat to the National Innovation Council also plays a major catalyst role in the National Innovation Coordination Implementation Committee to realize the strategies recommended by the New Innovation Model.

The New Innovation Model emphasises that technology development initiatives need to be innovatively driven by market needs or technology needs. Moving into a knowledge based economy, technology development becomes the core competency to create wealth and societal well-being. As such, technology can be developed organically or acquired if necessary.

In essence, we have to understand that in the globalization era, capacity and capability in innovation are very much needed as they will boost the contribution to the national economic growth. The capacity and capability to produce knowledge-based products and technology, which could be transformed into intellectual property rights, will amplify the organizational competency as well as the national competitiveness to participate effectively in the global business.

Due to this phenomenon, the international businesses nowadays are shifting their focus to give more emphasis in developing their capacity in developing innovation-based products in the form of intellectual property rights, which will then ensure more returns of investment (ROI) in comparison to traditional-based products. An independent research in the United States has demonstrated that nearly 80% of the value of a U.S. publicly-traded company now comes from intangible assets, to which the largest component (or subset) of intangibles is IPR. Further, data showed that small businesses generate 13-14 more patents per employee than large firms. Empirical data suggests that this 80% figure applies, if not more so, to smaller (and private) companies as well[1].

Intellectual Property Commercialisation Policy for Research & Development (R&D) Projects Funded by the Government of Malaysia

The Intellectual Property Commercialisation Policy for Research and Development (R&D) Projects funded by the Government of Malaysia was launched by The Honorable Datuk Dr. Maximus Johnity Ongkili, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation on the 22 June 2009 at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre. The policy, which allows innovation to be transformed to commercial value, is very much needed to support Malaysia in building the competitiveness - particularly in the knowledge-based economy. The policy is very important to enable the resources of innovation to go through relevant processes and at the end, contribute efficiently to the national GDP.

The main objective of the Intellectual Property Commercialisation Policy is to establish a common framework to regulate the ownership and management of Intellectual Property from the creation, protection, innovation, exploitation and technology transfer activities and to promote and to facilitate the exploitation and commercialisation of intellectual property generated from projects funded by the Government of Malaysia.

The Intellectual Property Commercialisation Policy provides that for any Research and Development (R&D) Projects funded by the Government, the ownership of the intellectual property shall vest with the recipient of the grant. This policy also endorses the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation as the focal point of all Government owned intellectual property. It is also the intention of the policy to reward innovation and creative thinking through the sharing of revenues and other incomes generated from the commercial exploitation of the Intellectual Property. When the recipients derive any financial return from the commercial exploitation of the Intellectual Property, such net revenues shall be divided between the recipient (Institution) and the inventors. Upon deduction of reasonable expenses, the recipient shall distribute the disbursable according to the Wealth Sharing Guideline in clause 11 of the Policy.

	Disbursable Amount	Inventors	Recipients
1	First RM 250,000.00	100%	0%
2	Next RM 250,001.00 to RM 1,000,000.00	80%	20%
3	Next RM 1,000,001.00 to RM 2,500,000.00	60%	40%
4	Next RM 2,500,001.00 and 5,000,000.00	50%	50%
5.	RM 5,000,001.00 and above	40%	60%

Source: Intellectual Property Commercialisation Policy for Research and Development (R&D) funded by the Government of Malaysia

In recognition of the creative idea generation and innovative research, the fund shall provide incentive schemes for inventors. Payment of such incentive shall be as follows:

a) Upon disclosure of invention : RM 500.00

b) Upon filing patent : RM 5,000.00

c) Upon granting of patent : RM 10,000.00

The new policy sets a new direction by Government in introducing the Government Rights (March in Rights), with respect to an invention in which a recipient has acquired title as a result of Government funding. However the Government shall have the right to require the owner of the Intellectual Property to grant royalty free, a non exclusive, sole or exclusive license to the third party if the Government determines that such action is necessary because the owner has not taken, or is not expected to take effective steps to achieve commercialisation of the subject invention in any field of use within a reasonable time and action is necessary to alleviate public health and national security.

Patent registration and Intellectual Property protection for SME

The Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sector in Malaysia is a major component in the Malaysian economic landscape. SMEs form about 99.2% of the business establishment in Malaysia[2]. From the total SME establishment, 86.6% are in the services sector, 7.2% are in the manufacturing sector and 6.2% are in the agriculture sector. In terms of contribution to the Malaysian economy, the SMEs contribute 31.0% to the GDP, 52.0% of employment and 17.0% of total exports.

Due to the fact that SMEs comprise a big portion of the economic landscape, they must be made aware of knowledge-based economy games that IP generation, knowledge and protection has become more important than ever. Since the Intellectual Property Commercialisation Policy is also an integral part of industrial policy, the government shall endeavor to establish a sound intellectual property environment and infrastructure to enhance the intellectual property concept, generation and to cope with new technological development and economic interests. Since intellectual property is a valuable asset, its management is key to business success in the future.

Intellectual property protection may serve as one of many incentives for attracting technology transfer and for stimulating economic development. Considering technology transfer and technology commercialization as two important goals for intellectual property protection and economic development, providing comprehensive legal and regulatory infrastructure for intellectual property protection will also be beneficial to the SMEs.

During the past decade, laws and regulations for protecting intellectual property have been upgraded and streamlined to meet international standards. Some nations even adopted laws with higher standards. Because the value of intellectual property is significant, certain governments may intervene to resolve the intellectual property protection issue. Disputes over intellectual property rights are not simply between intellectual property owners and infringers but an important subject for trade negotiations. On the other hand, many nations have been actively fostering the environment to encourage the commercialisation of intellectual property with the goal to realize the value of intellectual property. Intellectual property, separated from product, has become an important object in global trade.

In responding to this issue, MOSTI is developing an initiative to assist the SMEs in creating and registering their intellectual property resulting from their indigenous products. The recent National Innovation Council meeting has endorsed the initiative to provide special funding to assist the SMEs in developing and registering their patents.

Business Matching

Numerous dynamic Malaysian companies and Universities will be brought together by MOSTI in its latest technology commercialisation business pitching events. Business Matching serves as a platform for businesses, universities and research institutes to transfer and trade technologies, products and services. It provides an ideal one-stop platform for technology-based companies to seek technology partners and funding, and for Venture Capitalists and Financial Institutions to source their technology deal flows. With the theme “Matching right ventures to realise true value of technology”, the participants range from technology-oriented companies who want to demonstrate advanced technologies or to seek collaboration with Venture Capitalists and other investors. These efforts would be able to identify promising high-tech companies and investment opportunities from Malaysia and abroad. It also includes entrepreneurs who are seeking market expansion to the region. For the Business Matching programme to materialise, MOSTI is working together with Malaysian Technology Development Corporation (MTDC), the Federation of Malaysia Manufacturers (FMM), Technology Park Malaysia (TPM), Malaysian Industry Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), and SIRIM.

To date, MOSTI has organised 5 business matching workshops and more are in the pipeline. During the business matching organised by MOSTI and Technology Park Malaysia on the 21 May 2009, a total of 10 technologies were presented by the researchers to Industry. Out of these 10 technologies, there were 5 takers. During the Business Matching Session between MOSTI and MIGHT – Technomart 2009 which was launched on the 5 June 2009 by Y.B Tuan Haji Fadillah Yusof, the Honourable Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, a total number of 25 researchers presented their findings. The participation was very encouraging and MOSTI managed to spot a couple of potential licensees. On the 10 to 14 November 2009 MOSTI will be hosting an International Business Matching session together with MTDC. This session will be divided into clusters. Since this is the first International Business Matching for MOSTI, neighbouring countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and India will be invited to participate. This will foster good relationship among researchers, Venture Capitalist and create a platform for international collaboration.

National Capacity Building for Technology Transfer Office

MOSTI took an important step forward this year in its effort to assist the Universities and Research Institution’s Innovation and Commercialisation Centre to gain hands-on experience by introducing the National Capacity Building for Technology Transfer Office programme. The National Capacity Building for Technology Transfer Office is a joint programme between MOSTI, Brain Gain Malaysia, SMOT Business School India, MIGHT and Global Innovation Research Centre Sdn Bhd. This programme is structured through three phases - Basic, Intermediate and Advanced. The first phase was held on the 24 – 28 May 2009. A total of 30 participants from 19 Universities took part in this programme. The programme is important to close the gap between Intellectual Property Commercialisation activities and to address some of the challenges faced by Institutions of Higher Learning and Research Institutions. This programme provides a structured approach for the relevant parties involved in commercialisation activities to manage a Technology Licensing Office, to introduce processes and mechanisms based on the best practice and to optimize intellectual property commercialisation.

Yayasan Inovasi Malaysia

The New Innovation Model was designed to enable the development of innovation capability driven by market and technology needs. In this respect, creativity among all walks of Malaysian life is important to support the national technology development aspiration set by the government and to be able to transform those to one of economic growth engines. One of the initiatives to support the Malaysian Innovation Model realization, during the 3^rd National Innovation Council meeting held on 10^th November 2008, the Honourable former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, launched the Yayasan Inovasi Malaysia which will become the platform to spur grass root innovation. During the launch of Yayasan Inovasi Malaysia, the Government awarded RM 10 million as matching grants to the Yayasan. The Yayasan Inovasi Malaysia was set up to nurture and support scientific innovation at grassroots level particularly among the youths, women and non-governmental organisations.

Intellectual Property commercialisation is a difficult game, by any standards. Even large institutions and reputable universities worldwide struggle to achieve a commercialisation rate that can be considered satisfactory. In the case of Malaysia, a developing country, more has to be done by all parties to improve our track record. Government alone cannot shoulder the burden and other stakeholders – universities and industry, must work hand in hand with MOSTI to ensure measurable progress. By collaborating with MOSTI, both university and industry can benefit. The end game is one that positions Malaysia as a leading icon of Intellectual Property creation and commercialisation. MOSTI is ready to work with all interested parties to make this a reality.

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[1] The Eighth Annual Sedona Conference On Patent Litigation, October 12, 2007, Sedona, AZ

[2] SME Annual Report, National SME Development Council, 2007