Trademark Registration

A trademark serves as the public face of your brand or corporation. Trademarks are used in commerce to identify the origin of goods and services and to differentiate them from rivals in the marketplace.

Registering your trademark grants you the exclusive right to use your mark in the country in which it is registered for the goods and/or services that it covers. A registered trademark also confers legal rights on the owner to lease or sell the brand.
If you have a registered trademark, you may use the ® sign to warn others not to use it. However, using this symbol for an unregistered trademark is illegal.

A registrable trademark is one that has a distinguishing logo or symbol, picture, name, signature, word, letter, numeric, or any combination of these elements. Smells, noises, colors, forms, moving pictures, tastes, and sensations are now registrable in various ASEAN nations.

Section 10 of the Trade Marks Act of 1976 (“TMA”) states that a registrable mark must have at least one of the following:

A trademark registration may be requested by any individual, business organization, institute, or legal body. While it is not required under Malaysian law to register a trademark before utilizing it, it is strongly advised to do so to avoid trademark infringement.
A seamless trademark application procedure in Malaysia takes between 9 and 15 months. The rights granted by a trademark registration become effective on the date the application is submitted.

If the application contains all of the following information/documents, a filing date is assigned depending on the date of receipt:

In Malaysia, the method for filing and prosecuting a trademark application is identical to that of other common-law nations. Each application must be for one mark in one class. The application may include several items or services that fall under the same international class without incurring any additional expenses. If the applied-for mark is approved to the Trademark Office, the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO), it is published in the Government Gazette for public comment. The filing of any opposition is limited to two months. If no resistance is received, the mark is registered. In contrast, after any objections and/or oppositions are resolved, the mark is registered.

Intellectual property rights in respect to a trade mark can be established by actual usage in the marketplace, and registration permits for Registered trade mark owners have the exclusive right to use their marks in commerce. They also have the legal right to sue those who use their marks without their permission under Trade Mark Law. They can pursue legal action or file a complaint with the Enforcement Division for appropriate action under the Trade Description Act of 1972. The registration certificate issued by the Registrar Office is prima facie evidence of trade mark ownership. A certificate of registration is a vital document for establishing ownership of products exported to other nations

To keep your trademark active, you simply need to renew it every ten years.
You can renew your trademark at any time before it expires by submitting Form TME1 to the Registry of Trademarks and paying the official stipulated fee of RM1,000.00. The validity of your trademark may be extended for another ten years upon renewal. You or a Registered Trademark Agent can renew your trademark.