Intellectual property represents the property of your mind or intellect. It is the fruits of human creativity and inventions. In our everyday life, we are surrounded by all different forms of intellectual property. In a strict business term, intellectual property means your proprietary knowledge which is a key element to your business success. It often sets the edge of successful businesses apart from the others. As the market has become extremely competitive in this emerging world, intellectual property has become the most precious and valuable asset in a business. Irrespective what forms of businesses you are involved in, from small enterprises to large corporations, or individual inventors and researchers, as long as you have an innovative ideas or creation, they need to be properly protected.
There are two main types of Intellectual property: Industrial property, which includes patents, trademarks, industrial designs, integrated circuits layout designs and geographic indications; and Copyright, which includes literary and artistic works such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, and architectural designs.
Except for the copyright and circuit layout rights, which are automatic, all other forms of IP required formal registration procedures in order to obtain the legal rights of ownership. If formal registration is not undertaken, the owner of such rights would have to rely on common law to prove ownership and prior use for non-registered IP, which is a rather difficult and tedious process.
Moreover, the owner of Intellectual property should bear in mind that simply registering your IP rights in Malaysia does not give you international protection. If international protection is sought, you must apply for this separately. Please see the section under International IP to find out what services we can provide to you to protect your IP rights internationally.