1. What is an Industrial Design?

An Industrial Design is the overall appearance of an article or a product. Basically, the industrial design is concerned with the non-functional nature and appearance of the object. The industrial design may be in a three dimension form or in a two dimension form. The features of the Industrial Design must be applied to an article or a product by an industrial process whereby the features in the finished article gives it a unique appearance.

2. What is an article or a product registrable as an Industrial Design?

A registrable article or a product can be in three dimension or two dimension form. A three-dimensional product are things like industrial or handicraft item (other than a computer program) and a two-dimensional ornamentation examples are patterns intended for display upon a product, or a stylised logo. The term “product” can also mean packaging, get-up, graphic symbols, typographic typefaces and parts of products intended to be assembled into a more complex product.

3. What are the criterias to fulfill in order to register your Industrial Design?

Not all industrial designs are registrable. In order for its registration to be valid, a design must be :-

• New
• Have Individual Character
• Must not be Purely Functional
• Must not be Contrary to Public Policy or it falls within the accepted principle of morality

4. What is the Rights conferred by a Registered Industrial Design?

The proprietor of a successfully registered Industrial Design will have the exclusive rights to manufacture, export, sell or hire out any article to which the industrial design has been applied. Other users who are interested in using the registered industrial design should obtain the consent from the rightful owner before using the industrial design. The limitation period whereby an owner of a registered industrial design has to take legal action against any infringer is 5 years from the act of infringement.

5. What is the duration for protection of a Registered Industrial Design?

The maximum protection period for a registered industrial design is 15 years, whereby the initial protection period is 5 years from the date of filing and is extendable for a further two consevutive terms of 5 years each.

6. How extensive is the protection of a Registered Industrial Design?

The protection of an Industrial Design depends on the country to which it is registered. An industrial design registered in Malaysia is only protected in Malaysia. Protection in other countries (members of the Paris Convention) are attainable provided that the registered industrial design owner applies for registration within 6 months from the date of filing in Malaysia.

Malaysia Trademark Registration Malaysia Patent Registration Malaysia Intellectual Property Services in Malaysia Industrial Design Copyright Malaysia Agent TGKC INTELPRO SDN BHD 6 Things You Should Know About Industrial Design in Malaysia

The danger for failing to patent your inventions in Malaysia could be damaging to you or to your company. If you do not patent your invention, anyone can use, make or sell your invention without your permission. Here’s why you should patent your inventions:

1. Monopoly of your Exclusive Rights.

Patents protect novel inventions that have industrial applications by giving an absolute monopoly to the inventor. The scope of the protection is enormously broad compared to other intellectual property rights such as trademark. Although the patent protection term is short (20 years) the exclusive rights conferred to them rewarding inventors for their effort in coming out with a patent.

2. Higher returns on your investment.

The patent scope is very wide and for a successfully registered patent in Malaysia, the proprietor can exploit their patent and be rewarded for their many years of research in coming out with their patent. Inventors spend considerable amount of time and money in inventing novel inventions and therefore by patenting their inventions, the patent law protects the invention thus allowing inventors to commercialise their invention for high returns on their investment.

3. Image of your company.

A patent is an invaluable asset of a company. A patent value cannot be determined by dollars and cents. A registered patent indirectly improves your standing in the eyes of your business partners, investors and shareholders as it demonstrates the level of expertise and specialisation of your company. This may also indirectly raise your company’s market value.

4. Money.

A patent holder may choose to exploit, sell or license the rights to develop the patent and this is a good source of income for your company.

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1. Trademark Symbol .

The trademark symbol or the design of the mark can be any distinctive words, letters, numerals, drawings, pictures, shapes, colors, logotypes, labels or any combinations of the above. It is crucial for the mark to be clear and not too complicated so that consumers can identify it easily that it relates to the goods or the services that you are providing. The best design is to keep it simple. Examples of a good trademark design: Google or Facebook.

2. Goods or Services. The second thing that you should pay attention of is the goods or services that you intend to use your trademark on. The classification of goods and services under the NICE classification (10th edition) indicates the classes of goods and services that you intend to claim your intellectual property right. A trademark can be registered under one class or several classes depending on the proprietor of the trademark the goods or services he/she intends to have protection.

3. Trademark Protection in Malaysia. Trademark protection is territorial in nature. A proprietor of a trademark cannot claim rights in every country in the world, unless he had registered himself as the owner of the trademark in that particular country. Note that, each country has its own trademark law. In certain countries, for example Malaysia, a proprietor must use his trademark otherwise, he may be thrown off the record by others for non-use of the trademark. So if you intend to have trademark protection in Malaysia, you should apply for your trademark symbol in Malaysia.

Malaysia Trademark Registration Malaysia Patent Registration Malaysia Intellectual Property Services in Malaysia Industrial Design Copyright Malaysia Agent TGKC INTELPRO SDN BHD 3 MainThings to Consider Before Applying for a Trademark

You’ve probably wonder why you need to do a trademark search before applying for your trademark. Yes, saving cost is one of the most important thing to do in business. But when we talk about saving cost, saving cost or saving time matters to you most? Believe it or not, saving time is more important. Here’s why:

1. Trademark Search to Save Time. First and foremost, think about the time you would have to spend waiting for your trademark to be approved by the Registrar of Trademark. The time taken for trademark registration may stretch from 8 months to up to 2 years. During this time, you are not adviced to use your trademark as you might infringe other people’s trademark rights. Bear in mind that, your trademark might not be approved if a trademark search is not done before trademark application. So a trademark search is advisable.

2. Trademark Search to Save Cost. For a minimum fee to do a trademark search on the trademark registry, you stand to save more costs in the long run. If the trademark search result shows that there are no others who have a similar trademark on the same or similar goods/services, then you can start trading using your trademark while applying for registration at the same time.

3. Trademark Search for a clear picture where your trademark stands. Although a trademark search does not guarantee that your trademark will be registered, but after doing a search on the trademark registry, you will roughly know the likelihood of your trademark being approved by the Registrar. If the search result is bad, i.e. you have the same/similar trademark with someone else, you may immediately redesign your trademark so as not to infringe another entity’s rights. Here, you save not only cost, but also time.

Malaysia Trademark Registration Malaysia Patent Registration Malaysia Intellectual Property Services in Malaysia Industrial Design Copyright Malaysia Agent TGKC INTELPRO SDN BHD The Top 3 Reasons for Trademark Search on the Trademark Registry

1. Consumers will not be confused . Trademark is an indication of origin. Consumer may easily be able to establish a link between your trademark and your goods or services. Consumer will know just by looking at a trademark symbol, they know that it points back to you or your company. In other words, your clients will not be confused with your trademark and your business rivals.

2. Consumers’ confidence . Trademark is also a quality indicator and a method of advertisement. Your clients will be assured that the goods or services that they buy are from you and not others.

3. Effectively stop others from copying your trademark. Other business rivals may copy and use your trademark symbol. As building a brand from stratch is not easy and it takes up a lot of time and money, failing to register your trademark may cause you to lose your intellectual property right to prevent others from marketing under the same or similar trademark. By registering your trademark in Malaysia, you have a legal right to stop others from using your trademark.

Malaysia Trademark Registration Malaysia Patent Registration Malaysia Intellectual Property Services in Malaysia Industrial Design Copyright Malaysia Agent TGKC INTELPRO SDN BHD Top 3 Reasons Why You Should Register Your Trademark