I think the debate has raised something that clarifies where the policy options are. Professor de Beer is right when he says a lot of junk gets registered. Until it's registered and defined as intellectual property—trademarks, patents, copyright, trade secrets...well, trade secrets can't be registered—it can't become monetizable. If you want to get the economic value out of intellectual property, it has to be monetized by business. Government has the option to invest in the process, which we do through our universities—we admire what they produce—or to help encourage the monetization, which will give us the economic prosperity that we seek through intellectual property.
In summary, what you have just heard is where the options are for government: the front end or the back end. Business, in my experience, needs the encouragement—a little more encouragement of the downstream monetization to help deliver the benefits to the country.