After much anticipation, the first waves of IP law reform finally reached Malaysia on February 15, 2011, when amendments to the Trade Marks and Patents Regulations came into force.
Official fees
One notable change is a significant increase in official fees across the board by about 30 to 60 percent. This is the first fee increase in more than 13 years for trademarks and 15 years for patents. We trust that the extra funds will help to expand the workforce and productivity of the Malaysian Intellectual Property Office (MyIPO), and so benefit IP owners.
Having said that, the fee changes for patents include the unwelcome introduction of additional official fees when filing a new application. This change serves only to add to the administrative burden on both agents and MyIPO, and so is contrary to the overall theme of the other rule changes: streamlining procedures and shortening prosecution timeframes.
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IP reform, Malaysia
