A trademark is a sign that distinguishes your goods and services from that of other traders. A sign includes any letter, word, name, signature, numeral, device, brand, heading, label, ticket, shape of good or their packaging, colour, sound, scent, hologram, positioning, sequence of motion or any combination thereof.

Why is it so important to register your trademark?

• Source of Origin – A trademark helps to identify the source and origin of the products and services trading in the market for quality assuring purposes.
• Assist Your Customers – A trademark assists consumers to choose your goods and services and immediately identify who they are dealing with. Customers will know the reputation of your business and if it is good, they are less likely to look for alternatives present in the market. 
• Create Brand Recognition – Trademarks play a significant role in promoting your goods and services, making them distinctive in terms of their competitors and preventing them from copying or stealing your brand.
• Trademark is for life – A trademark is permanent, with a need only for periodic renewal every 10 years.

A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention which provides the patent owner with the right on how and whether this invention can be used by others. The primary benefit of a patent is the right to stop your competitors from selling the same product.

Generally, your invention is patentable if it is globally new, involves an inventive step (non-obvious) and is industrially applicable. Once a patent is issued, it is enforceable for 20 years from the initial filing of the application that resulted in the patent.

Why is it so important to register your patent? 

Protect against Copying – A registered patent prevents rivals from copying your invention and claiming it as theirs.

Losing the chance to own your patent – If you don’t patent your invention, someone will copy it and enter the market with your product. Your invention would be out in the public and no longer be considered a new invention. If this happens, all your efforts and money will be wasted.

Attract Investors to Your Company – Patents may attract potential investors to your company, which may not only protect your investments in Research and Development, but also provide alternative income by licensing your patent to others.

An industrial design refers to features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament applied to an article by any industrial process which in the finished article appeals to the eye and is judged by the eye. One important requirement to fulfil to register your industrial design is that it must be new. 

It is important to register your industrial design because only the owner of a registered design has the exclusive right to make, import, sell or hire out any article to which the design has been applied.

A registered industrial design is given an initial protection period of 5 years from the date of filing. Thereafter, 2 further consecutive terms of 5 years will be granted upon payment of extension fee.

Copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives an owner exclusive rights in relation to their created works which include literary works, artistic works, musical works, films, sound recordings and broadcasts.

Copyright law entitles the owner of the copyright to control any actions in relation to their created work for a certain number of years.

There is no mandatory requirement to register a copyright as a copyright work is protected automatically once it is completed. Although copyright is a non-registrable right in Malaysia and enjoys automatic protection, copyright owners find it difficult to prove their ownership when disputes arise. This can be overcome by filing a Voluntary Notification at the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO).

Since it is not mandatory to obtain a patent to protect an invention, the inventor may choose to keep the details secret. Any confidential information that provides an enterprise a competitive edge may be considered a trade secret. This includes manufacturing or industrial secrets and commercial secrets. The unauthorised use of such information by persons other than the holder or inventor is regarded as unfair practice and a violation of the trade secret.

Also known as mini patent, utility innovation refers to any innovation which creates a new product or process, or any new improvement of a known product or process.

The requirements to obtain a certificate of utility innovation are less stringent than the requirements needed for patent, which are as follows:

- Novel – The invention must be new and not used or disclosed before anywhere in the world.

- Industrially applicable – The invention can be made or used in the relevant industry.

You may note that the criterion of inventiveness is not necessary for the registration of utility innovation. The protection duration of a utility innovation is initially 10 years from the date of filing of utility innovation application and extendable for another two successive periods of 5 years each.