The ushering in of a new year usually brings with it new resolutions and a fresh start to everyone. Likewise, the Malaysian Intellectual Property Corporation (better known as MyIPO) has joined the bandwagon and introduced some changes to our Industrial Design Regulations, with the changes set to be enforced very, very soon – on 15 February 2012!!
With such short notice, let’s bring you up to date with the crux of the changes:
Firstly, the amended Regulations now allow for electronic filing of design applications and other documents throughout the prosecution of a design application with MyIPO. A document which is electronically filed is deemed to be effected at the time the document is accepted by the electronic filing system. As some of you may be aware, this introduction of e-filing is in line with the changes made to the Trademarks and Patents Regulations which were amended early last year. Having said that, many IP practitioners (including us at KASS) still prefer to continue with the manual filing of documents as the electronic filing system is still in the process of being tweaked and improved by MyIPO.
Secondly (and sadly), there has been an increase of official fees, ranging between 30-50% for all stages of the prosecution process.
Thirdly, where previously six (6) copies of the representation of the design was to be filed during the initial filing stage of the design application, this requirement has been reduced to only one (1) copy being needed for filing purposes.
Last but not least, the requirement to have the Applicant of the design applications sign thePower of Attorney (Form ID 10) for each individual application has been done away with by the introduction of a Letter of Authority from the Applicant to the Agent, which will allow for the agent to sign the Form ID 10 for a number of design applications intended by the Applicant. This Letter of Authority will be needed at the filing stage to secure the filing date and application number. However, in the event the original letter cannot be obtained in sufficient time, a copy of the letter will be accepted by MyIPO, with the condition that the original will soon follow.
The changes above are minor in comparison to the changes made to the Patents and Trademark Regulations last year and thus it is unlikely that any major issues will arise with the introduction of the amendments. We will continue to keep you updated of other changes in the legislation. In the meantime, should you have any queries regarding the changes or require our updated fee schedule for design prosecution in Malaysia, please contact us at ipr@www.kass.com.my .
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