INGENIEUR
innovative product in the market. This is
the stage where innovators should conduct
a thorough literature search by examining
the current market and searching through
trade publications and intellectual property
databases to identify any existing innovations
that have addressed the problem. It would
be pointless for innovators to develop an
invention that does not have a target audience.
The chances are that the product could not
be commercialised and generate profits.
Furthermore, it would be pointless if the
invention is an exact duplication of previous
inventions that address market needs. For
example, say the innovator identifies that
there is a need for a health-friendly pesticide,
which kills crop pests efficiently without any
adverse effects on human health. It might be
worthwhile coming up with a chemical formula
that can achieve such a purpose.
2 Problem definition and idea generation: This
is the stage whereby the innovator(s) need to
define the problem statement (what has not
been solved, why the invention is needed,
what is the importance of the invention to
users, the target market of the invention such
as consumer or business markets, feasibility
of researching and developing the invention,
et cetera). Innovators brainstorm ideas for
various products or solutions to address
the problem [6-7]. For example, the humanfriendly pesticide will definitely be a boon
to farmers and cropland owners. However,
what are the alternatives that can be used
to replace poisonous pesticides available in
the market? What are the criteria that can be
used to define a health-safe pesticide? Such
criteria may include pesticides that do not
leave any residue on the crops, pesticides that
are not harmful if inhaled and contacted, and
therefore respirators, chemical splash goggles
and chemical resistant gloves are not required.
3 Design and development: This is the stage
where the innovators need to design and
develop the product. Looking at the healthfriendly pesticide example, this is the stage
whereby innovators will begin to investigate
possible chemical makeups to produce such
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a product and develop prototypes. This stage
goes hand in hand with the following stage
(i.e. implementing, testing, verification and
validation) as the prototypes need to be tested
under laboratory conditions and clinical trials.
Depending on the results, modifications may
need to be made or the product may need to
be constructed from scratch.
4 Implementing, testing, verification and
validation: This is the stage where intensive
tests are carried out in order to verify and
validate whether the product performs to
the requirements set out in the problem
definition. This stage is performed iteratively
with the design and development stage in
order to observe the product’s functionality
and performance under laboratory conditions,
clinical trials, et cetera. However at this stage,
the innovative product is still a prototype, as it
has not yet been commercialised. The product
prototype is then finalized after going through
numerous design, development, testing,
verification and validation processes.
5 Disclosure and intellectual property
registration: Prior to commercialisation
of an invention or innovative product, the
product needs to be disclosed (not to the
public); rather to the intellectual property (IP)
office. Inventions can be in any form as has
been described in the previous unit such as
copyrights, industrial designs, layout-designs
of integrated circuits, patents, trademarks,
trade secrets and new plant variety protection.
Several inventions do not require formal
registration, whereas some require formal
registration such as patents and industrial
designs. This step is crucial in order to protect
IP rights. Universities do have a Research
Commercialisation Unit or Intellectual Property
Office in which academic researchers can
consult and liaise with regarding registration
of intellectual properties. It is important for
innovators to emphasise and highlight how
and why their products are different from
existing similar inventions. Innovators also
need to identify who are the “innovators”
that contributed to the intellectual property.
Inventors (and hence, innovators) are those