Economy Ministry report: IP policy to be reviewed to enhance commercialisation ecosystem

Monday, 11 Sep 2023 1:04 PM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 — The policy on intellectual property (IP) will be reviewed to enhance the national commercialisation ecosystem that will proliferate technology ownership, adoption, and transfer.

Meanwhile, IP assets will be leveraged in the assessment to secure funding to encourage commercialisation and innovation activities, according to the Mid-Term Review of the 12th Malaysia Plan (2021-2025) report.

To generate maximum value-added from IP, technology transfer offices (TTOs) in government research institutes (GRIs) and higher education institutions (HEIs) will be leveraged to strengthen capacity and capabilities in research and commercialisation, the report said.

“TTOs will be supported by the specialised talent in technology transfer, IP management and IP valuation to accelerate commercialisation activities,” it said.

On challenges in accelerating research, development, commercialisation and innovation (R&D&C&I), the report noted the low commercialisation of IP in Malaysia, the industry’s lack of preparedness to adopt new technology, and high costs for developing and adopting technology, among others.

In the remaining 12MP period, the government aims to optimise the potential of R&D&C&I and escalate the advancement of technology to accelerate economic growth.

In this regard, two new strategies will be implemented, namely scaling up R&D&C&I activities and elevating the adoption of advanced technologies.

“The implementation of these strategies is essential in ensuring an exponential progression to a high-technology and high-income nation, which is characterised by higher productivity and increased competitiveness,” the report said.

It said selected niche areas for R&D&C&I will be streamlined based on the 10-10 Malaysian Science, Technology, Innovation and Economy (MySTIE) framework for government funding consideration.

This will ensure optimum return on investment of all government-funded R&D&C&I programmes and projects.

Among the 12MP targets is to raise gross R&D expenditure as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product to 2.5 per cent by 2025 from only 0.95 per cent in 2020. Meanwhile, the number of patent applications by Malaysians is targeted to hit 2,000 by 2025 from 936 last year.

The government is also looking forward to improving Malaysia’s ranking in the Global Innovation Index to top 20 by 2025 from 36th place last year. — Bernama