Why Registration of Business Trademark in Malaysia is Necessary?
Definition of Trademark in Malaysia Company Incorporation
A trademark is often referred to as the face of a brand or business. It may be a business name, heading, label, logo, device, signature word, letter, numeral or a combination of these items. It often distinguishes a particular company’s product or services from those of other companies. Trademarks include stylized brand names such as “Coca-Cola” and symbols such as Nike’s famous “swoosh.”
Basically, Malaysia company incorporation agency, SSM, grants you exclusive right to use your registered business name. You reserve the exclusive right to use the mark for your brand’s promotion by registering a trademark. It also helps to prevent other brands from using an identical trademark.
For trademarks, Malaysia allows the registration of items, such as the name of an individual, company, or firm. The country also allows the signature of the applicant, invented words, or other distinctive marks and logos. You can do the registration of trademarks after the agency for Malaysia company incorporation has approved your company registration Malaysia.
Malaysian trademark is protected in Malaysia; the right is not valid in other countries. This means that you will need to apply for fresh trademark registration in other countries.
Importance of Trademark Registration in Company Registration Malaysia
This is similar to approving your company registration Malaysia through the commission for Malaysia company incorporation, SSM. Here, you are also allowed to exclusively use your business name in official transactions. Holding a trademark registration right allows you to exclusively use that mark for commercial gain, promotion, and signing of contracts.
The trademark owner can also register other parties as registered users, transferring rights to those users to use the marks. Any other party infringing on the rights to the trademark, by producing, selling, importing, or stocking items with the mark without proper permission, is liable for civil actions by Malaysian authorities.
How to Apply for Trademark Registration
Doing company registration Malaysia is stress-free through Malaysia company incorporation agency, SSM. Applications for trademark are locally-made. You are to complete a TM1 form, with the Trade Mark Division in the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO). All documents submitted must be in English or Bahasa Malaysia, the national language. The basic application fee for trademark registration starts from RM1,020. However, with a registration fee of RM1,000, you can process company registration Malaysia through the Malaysia company incorporation agency, SSM.
Filing of trademarks is accepted in any language and alphabet. However, trademarks which are not in the English or Bahasa Malaysia, and not in the Latin script need to be accompanied by a certified translation and transliteration of each of the characters in the English or Malay language. Additionally, you must appropriately specify the language of those word(s).
With Malaysia company incorporation agency, SSM, any individual or a corporate entity can register a trademark. If the applicant resides abroad, he/she must provide a Malaysian address. While foreign applicants are also able to register a trademark by themselves, they often hire the service of a trademark agent for this purpose.
The Docs Need for Registration of Business Trademark
Applications for company registration Malaysia require the submission of incorporation documents. Similarly, applications for a trademark also require the following documents to be submitted:
- A copy of the proposed trademark in JPEG format
- A list of goods or services which the mark will cover
- Information about the applicant’s name, address and status
- Location of incorporation
- An official statement affirming that the applicant is the rightful owner of the mark and that the application has been made in good faith (must be duly signed with a Commissioner for Oaths (if the applicant is local) or with a Notary Public (if the applicant is abroad).
We recommend that you search for registered trademarks before starting the application process to ensure that there are no conflicting ideas. You can conduct this search at the Public Search Room at the MyIPO office for a fee of RM10 per hour.
When selecting which goods categories to claim on an application, you should apply for protection over all categories you intend to use your trademark. This is to avoid another local company registering a similar trademark for goods which your company does not produce.
Malaysia adopts a first-to-use system for trademark registration and rights. This is similar to company registration Malaysia by the commission for Malaysia company incorporation, SSM. This means that the first applicant for a particular trademark is entitled to registration. This applicant has better rights, in the absence of any prior user of an identical or a somewhat similar trademark.
The Time of Process to Apply for Trademark
Company registration Malaysia might take lesser time. However, trademark eligibility examinations normally take less than twelve months and are followed by publication in the Government Gazette. If there are no objections, the mark will be registered. If there is an issue with the application (such as the application being incomplete or the mark conflicting with a previously registered mark), the applicant will be given two months to review and respond to the issues raised by the examiner. Examiners may also request other minor amendments like changes to the goods categories, requests for clarification, or requests for translations. After amending objections and/or oppositions, the mark proceeds to registration.
A trademark registration will last for ten years from the date of application. However, you can renew it every ten years for an unlimited number of times. We recommend that you do this before the registration expires.
What is next after approval by company registration Malaysia, and the commission for Malaysia company incorporation, SSM? Then is the time you may proceed to MyIPO for an application. You are to apply your registered business name, your logo or even the unique products you offer as a trademark. This is to prevent rivals from using a similar item and be “passing off” as the owners of your products.