Licensing Approach to R&D Commercialization among Government Research Institutes in Malaysia – Lessons from Selected Cases

Abstract

The three selected Government Research Institutes (GRI’s) in Malaysia, namely Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) and Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) being research agencies under specific ministries of the government, are constrained by statutory restrictions in their options for R&D commercialization path – technology licensing is currently the preferred option. In the case of MPOB, technology licensing for the production of palm-based trans-free liquid santan was taken up by two industry players. The market need was well qualified and the commercial production technology was appropriately developed; the major commercialization challenges were in the forms of the need to increase brand and product benefits awareness so it could be accepted by mainstream consumers as alternative to coconut milk. In the case of FRIM’s High Temperature Drying (HTD) system, it was developed to address rubber wood furniture industry’s need for chemical-free technology and shorter processing time. The commercialization challenge is to convince industry players of the benefits from adopting HTD technology. In the case of MARDI, Clearfield Production System for rice was developed in collaboration with BASF to address the problem of weedy rice. User acceptance (i.e. rice farmers) has been encouraging since substantial financial benefits can be realized. All three cases exemplified clear industry-driven market needs that led to successful R&D commercialization via technology licensing.