Bridging the Gap: How Lawyers Help Turn Research into Real-World Innovation

This is Australia’s “broken research-to-business pipeline”. We are exceptional at generating knowledge but lag far behind our international peers in turning that knowledge into new products, successful companies, and high-skilled jobs. It’s a multi-billion-dollar opportunity slipping through our fingers, a disconnect that holds back our national productivity and prosperity.  

The reasons for this are complex, rooted in a culture clash between two very different worlds. But the key to unlocking this vast potential might come from an unexpected place. It’s not just about more funding or better technology; it’s about having the right architects to build the bridges between these worlds.

A Tale of Two Worlds: The Scientist and The CEO

Imagine a university researcher. Let’s call her Dr. Evans. She has spent years on a breakthrough that could revolutionise battery technology. Her world is driven by discovery, peer-reviewed papers, and the academic imperative to “publish or perish”. The primary goal is to share her work to advance human knowledge (and her career). Her greatest fear is someone stealing her idea before she can publish it, as public disclosure can make it impossible to patent.  

Now, imagine a corporate R&D manager. Let’s call him Mr. Chen. He’s looking for the next big thing to give his company a competitive edge. His world is driven by deadlines, market demands, and return on investment. He sees universities as slow, bureaucratic, and difficult to engage with. He needs speed, certainty, and a clear path to making a profit.  

When Dr. Evans and Mr. Chen try to collaborate, they’re essentially speaking different languages. The university, as a public institution, is focused on creating knowledge for the public good. The business needs to own the outcome to justify its investment. This leads to the single biggest deal-killer in Australian innovation: the fight over who owns the intellectual property (IP)—the idea itself. Negotiations can drag on for months, and many promising partnerships simply fall apart.  

The People Caught in the Middle

Between the scientist and the CEO are two other key players, each facing their own immense challenges.

First, there’s the University Technology Transfer Office (TTO). This is the official matchmaker, the “front door” for industry looking to partner with researchers. TTO managers are tasked with protecting the university’s interests while trying to strike a deal. However, they are often under-resourced and caught in a painful tug-of-war, trying to satisfy the academic’s need to publish, the university’s rigid IP policies, and the business’s demand for commercial control.  

Then there’s the Spin-off Founder. This is often the academic inventor, like Dr. Evans, who decides to take the ultimate leap of faith. They leave the security of the university to build a new company from scratch, based on their invention. This founder immediately runs into the “valley of death”—the terrifying funding gap between when research grants dry up and before the company is making money. Most university spin-offs don’t survive this phase, often because their founding teams are full of technical geniuses who lack the business experience to attract investors.  

The Architect: A Lawyer’s Unexpected Role

When you think of a lawyer, you might picture someone who just drafts contracts or argues in court. But in the world of research commercialisation, the most effective lawyers are something else entirely: they are strategic architects, translators, and deal-makers. They don’t just manage risk; they build the very structures that allow innovation to flourish.  

Here’s how they fix the broken pipeline, piece by piece:

1. 1. They Protect the Crown Jewels (IP Strategy): Before a single conversation with a potential partner, the idea must be secured. A strategic lawyer helps the inventor navigate the “disclosure dilemma,” creating a plan for when to publish and when to file for a patent. They build a legal fortress around the core asset, ensuring it’s protected before it’s ever shown to the outside world.  

1. 1. They Build the Bridge (Deal-Making): The lawyer architects the agreements that connect the university and the business. They understand both sides’ motivations and constraints. Instead of letting a deal die over IP ownership, a creative lawyer can design a sophisticated licensing agreement that gives the business the commercial security it needs to invest, while allowing the university to meet its policy goals. They translate the language of academia into the language of commerce, and vice versa.  

1. 1. They Create the Vehicle (Spin-off Structuring): For a founder starting a new company, a corporate lawyer is essential. They build the company from the ground up—choosing the right legal structure, drafting the critical shareholder agreements that define the rules between the founders, and setting up employee equity plans to attract talent. Crucially, this work makes the company “investor-ready.” The involvement of a reputable law firm acts as a powerful “quality signal,” telling investors that the venture is serious, professionally managed, and a much safer bet.  

High-Stakes Innovation: Where the Rules Are Everything

Nowhere is this strategic legal role more critical than in highly regulated fields like medical technology.

Imagine a new health app that uses AI to help diagnose skin cancer from a photo on your phone. It’s a brilliant idea that could save lives. But you can’t just upload it to the app store. In Australia, any software with a medical purpose—known as Software as a Medical Device (SaMD)—is regulated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) just as strictly as a physical device like a pacemaker.  

To get TGA approval, you need to provide rigorous clinical evidence that your app is safe and effective. This means the legal and regulatory strategy can’t be an afterthought. It must be integrated from day one. A regulatory expert needs to advise the research team on  

how to design their studies to produce the exact data the TGA will demand. In this world, the regulatory pathway is the commercialisation pathway. Getting it wrong means the product never reaches the people it was designed to help.

Unlocking Australia’s Future

Australia’s “broken pipeline” isn’t a single problem but a system of misaligned incentives, cultural gaps, and communication breakdowns. Fixing it requires more than just goodwill; it requires skilled architects who can bridge these divides.

By viewing legal counsel not as a transactional cost but as a core strategic partner, we can begin to mend the pipeline. Lawyers can protect the ideas, structure the deals, build the companies, and navigate the complex rules that turn discovery into impact. By doing so, we can finally set our nation’s billion-dollar ideas free, fuelling the new industries and jobs that will secure Australia’s prosperity for generations to come.