INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY - MALAYSIA'S TRADEMARK LEGISLATION GOES UNDER THE KNIFE

It is a major step towards progression of the Malaysian trademarks landscape, and brand owners who have been waiting to protect their non-traditional trademarks or file their trademarks worldwide at a cheaper cost or even monetize their intellectual property will heave a sigh of relief

Malaysia was one of the 12 countries to sign the now-defunct Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) back in 2016, along with Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, and the United States.

Given the significance of the Intellectual Property (IP) Chapter in the TPPA, the ratification of this Treaty was seen to be very important to Malaysia, as it would have made some radical changes to the intellectual property landscape in Malaysia. Various Intellectual Property legislations were slated for updates or amendments, some of which were eagerly awaited by the legal fraternity.

When TPPA fell apart following the withdrawal of the United States, the future of the Malaysian legislations that were slated for change became uncertain, until very recently, at least for trademarks.

The outgoing Malaysian Trade Marks Act was enacted in the year 1976 and came into force in 1983. It goes without saying that the Act required an update or revision altogether to keep up with the many changes in trademark laws around the world.

After careful studies and deliberation, the Malaysian government recently introduced the Trade Marks Bill 2019.

The Trade Marks Bill 2019 had its first reading on 9 April 2019 and is expected to come into force sometime during the second half of 2019 upon completion of the Regulations. The Bill, when enforced, will seek to replace the outgoing Trade Marks Act 1976 by leaps and bounds.

This long-overdue amendment to the trademark laws, in fact, will also help Malaysia to become an attractive base for trademark filings, certainly. It is a total revamp of the Trade Marks Act 1976, which will put Malaysia on a new frontier of trademark development, on the international and national fronts.