AS Sarawak positions itself as a future regional hub for sustainable innovation, the focus is increasingly turning towards the ideas that will drive that progress. With the Post COVID-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030, the three main pillars — “Economic Prosperity”, “Social Inclusivity”, and “Environmental Sustainability” — take centre stage. However, beyond this, a bigger challenge emerges: without intellectual property (IP), these ambitions may be difficult to fully realise.
In conjunction with World Intellectual Property Day, Sarawak Tribune spoke to four lecturers from Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus to gain deeper insight into IP, its role, and the gaps that remain.
Starting first, Faculty of Business, Design and Arts Deputy Head of School (Business) and senior lecturer Markson Chin Wee Chien highlighted that IP plays a quiet but key role in supporting all three pillars of the PCDS, whilst elevating the region and moving it up the value chain.
“IP is the legal protection of ideas, allowing us to own and control them. In Sarawak, IP helps protect local inventions, enables commercialisation of research, supports high-value industries, and creates better jobs for the local communities,” he said.
With IP, more job opportunities can be created, thus improving the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Chin added.
Echoing his sentiment, a lecturer from the same faculty, Donna Barclay, said that IP functions as part of the broader business ecosystem, underpinning innovation as well as economic value.
Meanwhile, Lecturer in Law Jacob Ting King Soon emphasised it as crucial. “When we talk about safeguarding ideas or any kind of research output, and eventually getting them into something impactful, in the process, we need protection.”
Two sides of a coin
While IP can empower many aspects, it also has two sides to the coin. School of Research Director Professor Basil T Wong said that on one hand, IP incentivises innovation by protecting investments in research and development. On the other, it can also act as a barrier.
“It can slow diffusion if access is restricted or licensing costs are prohibitive, especially for developing regions that urgently need these solutions. In practice, the system is not inherently a barrier, but its implementation matters.”
Nevertheless, Wong noted that mechanisms such as open licensing, patent pools and public-private partnerships can ensure that IP both rewards innovation and enables wider access, particularly for sustainability-driven technologies.
As Director of Research, he added that while IP does influence research direction to some extent, it is not the primary driver in academic environments. Researchers, he said, are largely motivated by scientific curiosity, societal impact and funding priorities.
However, as research moves closer to real-world application, ideas with patent potential may receive greater attention. Wong emphasised that the key lies in maintaining a balance between fundamental research and application-driven innovation.
“Both are equally important as they tend to work in tandem.”
Ultimately, IP remains important. Ting commented that since knowledge is valuable, protecting it is necessary.
The dusty patents
During the discussion, the description of “dusty patents” was raised by Chin. He revealed that many ideas have been patented but are not developed due to low commercial value or limited practical application. While this may incur issues, Chin highlighted that there is also a positive side.
“Under Malaysian law, patents expire after 20 years from filing, with renewal fees paid. With this expiry, that means the knowledge that has been locked can be free to be used by others. This means that even if an innovation fails today, it may still contribute to tomorrow’s development once it re-enters the public domain,” he said.
However, Donna pointed out that technology used two decades ago may not be useful today. Hence, these “dusty patents” may no longer be relevant or have renewed value.
And sometimes, this knowledge is limited to classroom case studies to be discussed, said Ting. “But that’s not to say that they are totally useless. The point is that there is a wealth of knowledge there. In Swinburne, we often work with what’s done already in the past. To us, we could not get here without them.”
Chin added that this is where knowledge sits at the crossroads. While not all knowledge can be monetised or used, it often lays the groundwork for future breakthroughs.
“One day, this knowledge will come to a point where it may be monetised or accelerate an effect on other industries. Who knows what’s yet to be discovered or the impact this knowledge will have in the future,” he said.
The real gap
Safeguarding knowledge is important, yet it can be a hassle for many. With regulatory hurdles, those who are not familiar with the legal requirements may find the infrastructure overwhelming. Donna, who shared on this, reflected that this complexity is part of a wider gap within the IP landscape.
Wong further emphasised that navigating unchartered waters can be challenging. But it isn’t just the system itself, rather due to limited expertise in managing, valuing, and licensing IP effectively. “Strengthening technology transfer capabilities is therefore critical,” he said.
And when IP is protected, there comes the issue of whether the idea is viable or workable. Bridging the gap between passion-driven research and commercial value remains a significant hurdle for many researchers.
Donna said that, “it is not necessarily because the science is weak. It’s just that the pathway to get into the market is complicated. While the patent may protect the invention, it doesn’t guarantee that commercially you’re going to be successful.”
Adding to this, Chin noted that bringing a product to market may require multiple patents, each carrying its own cost. Ting summed it up by saying that reality, at times, can be brutal.
Researchers, he added, are often driven by the pursuit of novelty. Many spend years developing ideas, only for the outcome to remain as case studies in classrooms. However, this does not diminish their value. Ting highlighted that knowledge sharing and collaboration are key to unlocking future potential.
Wong noted that the tension between collaboration and ownership can be real, but it is manageable. “Sustainability depends on collaboration, but IP is built on ownership. However, through structured collaboration frameworks such as “joint IP agreements”, “clear licensing terms”, and “collaborative research models” with predefined ownership structures, all parties can feel fairly recognised and incentivised, while still enabling the sharing of knowledge for broader societal benefit.”
Donna also highlighted the importance of collaboration and teamwork between different parties. “Researchers often do not know what to do with their ideas. Thus, it requires a team consisting of investors, legal expertise, business-minded individuals, and supportive government policies. I think there are many aspects that can encourage innovation to move beyond research into practical application.”
Ultimately, the gap is not a lack of ideas, but the distance between discovery and deployment — a space where collaboration, policy, and commercial support determine whether innovation stays in the lab or reaches the real world.
World Intellectual Property Day
As Sarawak continues to position itself as a regional hub for sustainable innovation under the PCDS 2030, intellectual property will remain a foundational element in shaping how ideas are protected, shared, and developed.
“With the right alignment of policy, research institutions, and industry, Sarawak can lead in areas such as clean energy technologies, sustainable infrastructure, and green materials and manufacturing,” said Ting. The key to this will be strategic investment and talent development, coupled with policies that encourage innovation and responsible deployment.
However, IP alone does not guarantee impact. Its effectiveness depends on the ecosystem that surrounds it. Ting revealed that “faster patent processes for green technologies”, “greater support for open or shared IP models”, and “incentives for impact-driven licensing” may accelerate deployment where it is most urgently needed.
As the world marks World Intellectual Property Day, the conversation serves as a reminder that innovation does not end with protection. It begins there, but its true value is only realised when ideas move beyond the laboratory, into collaboration, and eventually into society.
