IDEAS director of research Ali Salman said while Malaysia offers 20-year patent terms in line with World Trade Organisation (WTO) standards, the country continues to lack in the safeguarding of invention ideas.
“Foreign investors need clearly defined and easily enforceable patent rights. They won’t enter a local partnership if we have weak enforcement in managing our patent trademarks,” he said at the launch of a seminar on Improving Health Innovation and Access Innovation to Medicines, organised by IDEAS.
Ali said strengthening intellectual property protections can benefit countries in terms of data exclusivity, patent linkage and patent term restoration.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Intellectual Property Organisation (MyIPO) assistant director-general of science and technology Kamal Kormin said the organisation will lead efforts to enhance IP protection by simplifying the current patent registration procedures.
“We will amend and update the Patents Act 1983 to make it more flexible but still within the confines of the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement,” he said.
He said, the Patents Act currently has a flaw that enables a patent owner to abuse his rights by failing to supply the product in the market.
“To combat that flaw, the government can issue a ‘compulsory license’ to allow competitors to produce the product that the original patent owner had failed to do so,” he said.
MyIPO is an agency under the domestic trade, cooperative and consumerism ministry and is responsible for the development and management of the IP system in Malaysia.
The Patents Act 1983 was established with a view towards governing patent registration procedures in Malaysia.
To comply with and stay ahead in the development of IP protection globally, Malaysia has entered into a few international agreements, including the TRIPS Agreement.
The agreement which was signed in 1994, sets the minimum standard of protection for any IP.
These IPs are regularly observed and examined by WTO members to confirm the IP’s current status and management.