Creation to launch: barriers faced in the invention commercialisation process in New Zealand

Authors:
Richard Hadfield
Alan Cameron

Abstract: In recent years, political and business commentators have emphasised the importance of invention-commercialisation to New Zealand's future economic prosperity. However, it seems that inventors often face considerable barriers when attempting to get those inventions to market. The purpose of this study is to verify the existence of such barriers and explore their nature and extent. The research adopted a multiple case study approach. The participants in the research indicated thirty specific barriers experienced by inventors when trying to commercialise their ideas. Some of these barriers were generic in nature, whilst others were specific to the circumstances of the case. The barriers identified were grouped into six categories: patents, government, bureaucracy, finance, the inventor, and other. These categories mirror the general barrier categories found in the literature. These findings suggest that New Zealand's individual inventors do indeed face a wide range of barriers when attempting to commercialise their inventions. Further research is required to investigate the ways in which these barriers can be avoided or overcome.