A Step-By-Step Guide To Trademark Application
One of the most common types of IP is the trademark. It’s a powerful type of intellectual property that gives your company a public face. People use it to identify who you are and what you do. For example, the tagline “Finger Lickin’ Good“ is a classic and powerful slogan that immediately evokes recognition of KFC even in the absence of chicken and logo.
Trademark laws and applications may differ from country to country. In Malaysia, it looks like a few steps written down but in reality, it’s often a long and costly process that involves a lot of patience.
The point of intellectual property is to provide protection. In the event of a dispute of ownership, the certificates of trademark can be used as evidence and to indicate ownership of goods that are exported to other countries.
Trademarks play an essential role in advertising, identification and building consumer trust. It’s important you register your trademark as it gives you exclusive right to use it in trading. Trademarks can also be licensed or franchised out to others often for a fee.
Once you successively filed a trademark, the registration is valid from the date of application for ten years and can be renewed every ten years. It’s important to note that despite being registered in Malaysia, your trademark does not offer protection globally. You have to file an application in each country which only adds to your costs. The Malaysian Intellectual Property Corporation advises you to make a search before submitting any applications to avoid conflict with similar/identical trademarks that were filed before yours. There is a fee of RM20 per hour for a search.
