Register trademark in potential countries to expand brand

Trademarks should not only be registered in the country but also in potential countries in order for the brands to expand, said Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin.

He said the move was to avoid any business idea from being stolen by an outside party, which subsequently would become a hindrance to Malaysian traders to spread their wings abroad.

"A restaurant owner told me that he was not able to open a restaurant with the same trademark in Australia as someone there had copied and registered the restaurant trademark.

"This is because trademark is territorial, meaning that it can only be used in the country it's registered in. Hence, if a trader believes that his brand could be expanded, he should register the trademark in the potential countries," he told reporters at the National Intellectual Property (IP) Day 2016 celebration at IOI City Mall here, today.

He said the celebration was important to increase the awareness on registering IP rights with the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia, which subsequently would transform Malaysians from being an IP user to IP owner.

IPs that are covered under the nation's laws are patents, trademarks, industrial designs, geographical indications and integrated circuits layout designs.

Hamzah said the public awareness on IP registration was very encouraging as close to 100,000 new trademarks were registered and more than 35,000 new patents filed in the country last year.

"This have shown that public awareness on the importance of IP protection is there but it must continue to be cultivated," he said.

IP was an important component in the country's economic development and its continuous production would increase investment and trade, commercialisation as well as technology transfer, he added.