GENERAL COUNTRY INFORMATION
Malaysia is a nation in Southeast Asia consisting of 13 states and 3 Federal Territories, with two geographical regions separated by the South China Sea: Peninsula Malaysia and Borneo. Malaysia is home to about 28 million people of various races, mainly Malays, Chinese and Indians with a number of other ethnicities as well. The capital city is Kuala Lumpur while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. As of 2009, the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to be US$378.9 billion with $14,700 per capita.

Malaysia Trademark System

HIGHLIGHTS

Legal basis	Trade Marks Act 1976 effective 1 September 1983 Trade Marks (Amendment) Act 1994, 2000 and 2002, the latter effective 3 March 2003 Trade Marks Regulations 1997 effective 1 December 1997
Major international treaties signed	Paris Convention effective 1 January 1989 Nice Agreement effective 28 September 2007 Vienna Agreement effective 28 September 2007 Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)
Cost of obtaining a trademark	Please contact us at malaysia@mirandah.com
Average time to obtain a trademark	14 to 18 months
Official language for trademark prosecution	Bahasa Malaysia or English
Registrable marks	Any distinctive device, brand, heading, label, ticket, name, signature, word, letter, numeral or any combination thereof
Filing and prosecution procedures	Stage 1: Filing Stage 2: Examination Stage 3: Advertisement Stage 4: Opposition (if any) Stage 5: Registration Stage 6: Renewal
Number of classes	45 (Nice Classification (8th Edition))
Multiple class filing	Not available
Filing of series marks	Available
Necessary document for filing	Statutory Declaration of Bona Fide Ownership of Mark
Common objections	Descriptiveness Non-distinctiveness Prior conflicting rights
Extension of office action deadlines	Available
Opposition term	2 months (extendible)
Term of trademark protection	10 years (renewable)
Restoration of lapsed trademark	Within 12 months from the expiry of the last registration
Parallel Imports	Available
Minimum period of use to avoid non-use cancellation action	3 years (continuous)
Useful links	www.mirandah.com www.myipo.gov.my

ENFORCEMENT

HIGHLIGHTS

Infringement offence	Available
Specialized courts for IP	Available
Outline of the enforcement steps	Civil Infringement pursuant to the Trade Marks Act 1976  Passing-off Quasi-Criminal Application for a Trade Description Order under the Trade Descriptions Act 1972 Border Measures
Relief against groundless threats	Available (Summary Judgment)
Declaration of non-infringement	Available
Preliminary injunctions	Available
Time frame for various legal actions	12 to 36 months
Alternative dispute resolution	Limited to trade mark matters involving domain name dispute
Availability of damages and other relief for infringement	Expungement Action
Civil remedies	Injunction Damages
Criminal Sanctions	Trade Description Order  Monetary fines or imprisonment or both Border Measure Prohibition of importation; seizure; detention; forfeiture of goods bearing counterfeit trademark
Others	It is an offence to represent a trademark as registered when in fact it is not. Criminal sanctions include monetary fines or imprisonment or both

OTHER INFORMATION

Statistics on Application and Registration of Trade Marks ｆrom 2000 to 2009

Year

Application

Registration

	Domestic	Foreign	Total	Domestic	Foreign	Total
2000	6303	12500	18803	449	1328	1777
2001	6525	10078	16603	1570	5341	6911
2002	7661	8785	16446	4056	7072	11128
2003	8327	9439	17766	3014	9108	12122
2004	10406	10337	20743	3243	8473	11716
2005	10479	11668	22147	3683	7771	11454
2006	11209	12840	24049	5651	10108	15759
2007	12289	13605	25894	8108	17382	25490
2008	12562	13472	26034	9049	18798	27847
2009	12810	11260	24070	5438	9534	14972
Total	98571	113984	212555	44261	94915	129176

(Source: Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia)


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