'Patent Knight' points out four bottlenecks that make it difficult for intellectual property to become monetized

Doctor Pham Thi Kim Loan (64 years old), founder of Gia Thai Science and Technology Company DoctorLoan, owns more than 250 international patents in the field of spine care worldwide. In a conversation with VnExpress, Ms. Loan pointed out the bottlenecks that prevent inventions from truly coming to life, as well as shared her views on how Vietnam can promote more patents in the context of international integration.

- Vietnam has an increasing number of patent applications and intellectual property protection, but the number commercialized is still limited. As someone with a lot of experience bringing inventions to market, how do you explain this paradox?

- In recent years, the number of applications for patents, utility solutions, and industrial designs in Vietnam has been increasing, showing that awareness of the value of intellectual property has clearly increased among researchers, businesses, and inventors.

However, from the perspective of someone who goes directly from research to practical application, I think patents are just the starting point. A patented invention does not mean it will become a product that can create value for society. This is also the reason why the number of patents has increased but the commercialization rate is still low.

- In your opinion, are there any other barriers or causes in commercializing inventions?

- In my opinion, there are four main reasons. First, many inventions are developed to solve technical problems but do not fully stem from market demand. A product that wants to exist must solve a problem that users really care about and are willing to pay for.

For example, the research team can create a new, advanced material that is 30% more durable than existing materials. Technically, this is a remarkable achievement and can be completely patented. But if production costs are twice as high, or customers don't really need that 30% extra durability, businesses will not have the motivation to put the product into production, then the invention still has scientific value but is very difficult to commercialize.

The reality is even more complicated. An example can be taken from the inventions I created with DoctorLoan, focusing on solving a very common health problem in modern society: changes in spinal structure due to daily living posture, such as sleeping in the wrong position, sitting for long periods of time, using phones and computers, and a sedentary lifestyle. That means, users are not a small group, but almost the entire population, because everyone has a spine and is affected by posture every day. In terms of market demand, the demand is very large and increasing. However, commercialization still faces many difficulties, in that the market is often more accepting of solutions to handle consequences than prevention from the source. When a person has neck or back pain or a herniated disc, they are ready to seek medication, physical therapy or other treatments. When clear symptoms do not appear, very few people care about adjusting their sleeping position, sitting position or protecting their spinal structure every day.

Meanwhile, the core value of the inventions lies in influencing the root cause, helping to orient correct posture and support the maintenance of the physiological structure of the spine in daily activities. This creates a paradox in the commercialization of inventions: the earlier a solution can be prevented, the more difficult it is for the market to fully perceive its value.

Products related to posture and spinal structure face another challenge in effectiveness, which often occurs cumulatively, not instantaneously. Today's consumers tend to expect quick results. The gap between true scientific value and short-term market expectations makes commercialization more difficult. Therefore, in many cases, the difficulty of commercialization does not lie in the invention's lack of market demand, but in the fact that the market does not fully recognize the value of the preventive solution that the invention brings.

It is necessary to clarify here that the problem is not that there is no market demand, but that the need for disease prevention is often only recognized when the disease has appeared. Changing people's perceptions is often much more difficult than creating a new product. Many inventions fail not because they have no value, but because the inventor sees value before the market can recognize that value.

Second, Vietnam still lacks strong enough intermediary organizations to connect inventors with businesses, investors and the market. This is considered one of the "biggest bottlenecks" of the innovation ecosystem in Vietnam. In fact, many inventors are very good at their profession but have no experience in business, branding or developing distribution systems.

In countries with developed innovation ecosystems, between inventors and the market there always exists a network of professional intermediaries such as technology transfer centers, technology investment funds, business incubators, commercialization consulting units, intellectual property valuation organizations and enterprises with large-scale production capacity. But in Vietnam, most inventors have to carry out the entire process themselves from research, registration for protection, trial production, finding capital, building factories, developing markets to protecting intellectual property rights. This is beyond the capacity and resources of most scientists and inventors.

Reality shows that many valuable inventions are still on paper or on a trial scale not because the technology is not good, but because there is no capable organization to receive, invest and bring the products to market. I use my own experience as an example. To bring an invention in the field of spinal health care from an initial idea to a product used by consumers, I not only have to conduct scientific research, register patents, industrial designs and trademarks, but also have to invest decades in design activities, clinical trials, build production processes, train personnel, develop distribution systems, market communication and protect intellectual property rights against copying, counterfeiting and imitation.

Typically, the research phase is only a small part of the entire commercialization journey. The most difficult part lies in turning research results into a product that the market accepts, trusts and is willing to pay for. This is the gap that the commercialization support ecosystem in Vietnam is currently lacking and needs to be invested more strongly in the future. If this gap is resolved, the economic value created from Vietnamese intellectual property will increase greatly.

Third, with breakthrough inventions, especially in the field of health, the biggest challenge is not technology, but social trust and acceptance. When a solution produces results that go beyond common sense, the market often reacts with skepticism.

Therefore, inventors not only have to create products but also have to invest heavily in the process of proving effectiveness, building scientific data and building social trust. This is essentially a very deep issue of innovation, especially with breakthrough inventions in the fields of medicine, health, education or new technology. Many groundbreaking inventions fail not because of poor technology, but because the resources needed to convince the market far exceed the inventor's capabilities.

Finally, it is related to the situation of counterfeit goods, imitation goods and technology copying. If counterfeiting, counterfeiting and intellectual property infringement are not effectively controlled, consequences will occur at three levels: country - creative enterprise - consumer. That is, the damage does not just stop at businesses, but can affect the competitiveness of the entire economy when consumers are confused and use poor quality products.

From an international perspective, intellectual property rights are an important criterion to evaluate the investment environment and the level of development of the knowledge economy. At the national level, if counterfeit goods, counterfeit goods and intellectual property infringement are not effectively controlled, the damage is not just lost revenue or tax revenue. The bigger damage is the damage to national reputation in international eyes.

- What suggestions do you have to improve the situation of intellectual copyright infringement?

- In the intellectual property protection ecosystem, the enforcement stage is most often seen because this is the stage of handling violations. However, effective enforcement depends greatly on two fundamental links, which are establishing rights and assessing intellectual property.

For cases of infringement of industrial property rights, especially patents, industrial designs and trademarks, enforcement agencies such as inspectors, market managers, police, customs or courts are often not the units that directly evaluate the in-depth technical factors of the protected object. In many cases, the important basis for enforcement agencies to make decisions lies in the documents establishing rights and professional conclusions about infringing elements. Therefore, the quality and accuracy of appraisal, rights establishment and inspection activities are especially important.

If intellectual property rights are clearly established, the scope of protection is fully defined, and the assessment of infringing elements is objective, scientific and consistent, the enforcement process will be much easier. On the contrary, if the assessment of infringing elements does not create consensus among relevant entities, the enforcement process will be lengthy, increasing the cost of protecting rights and reducing the effectiveness of the protection system.

A strong intellectual property system is not only measured by the number of titles granted, but also by its ability to help rights owners protect their creative achievements effectively, promptly and predictably. In the context that Vietnam is aiming for economic development based on science, technology and innovation, improving the quality of appraisal, inspection and enforcement of intellectual property rights is of strategic significance. This is not only protecting the interests of each business but also protecting the trust of society and international investors in Vietnam's innovation environment.

Bao Lam