Malaysian Patent Agent | Malaysia Patent | Patent Valuation by patentagentip.

Malaysian Patent Agent | lowest acquiring cost by patentagentip.

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Malaysia Patent

Who is a Malaysian Patent Agent and what do they do?

You have something on your mind and you are trying to find somebody who is able to help you answer your question - yes, you are wondering whether that idea of yours is patentable or not. No problem, we are here to help you to solidify your great idea and to turn it into a patent - but first of all like everyone out there, you would like to know just how much it will cost to prosecute the patent. We are first of all a small boutique patent firm so we will offer you the best price in the market - rest be assured that it will be very affordable. Eversince you came up with that idea of yours, and you, like every one out there would also want to know what is the process and the timeline for full prosecution of the patent. We will help you out so that you will successfully be able to obtain a grant of patent. There are of course people who would prefer to go prosecute their own patent but we must acknowledge that it is fraught with problems to say the least. There are also occasions that the patent office would like to advice you to get a patent agent to better draft your application so that you will not be refused off the grant. So in order that you do not waste your time applying with a draft that does not comply with the substantive requirements under certain sections of the Patents Act 1983 (Malaysian), you would be adviced to seek professional help from a registered Malaysian patent agent. The fact is that we do see a lot of these applications being refused and we hope that you are not one of them. That is why we at Patentagentip is here to help you out - we are not only a registered patent agent but we can also help you to create one without your giving us any sort of input! We are proud to announce that we offer the one and only kind in the world termed "Inventing-as-a-Service" framework where by just telling us what you want to invent but not knowing the technical part of it, we will invent it for you, just that simple!

OK, let us get into the nitty gritty of a successful patent grant – it is not as easy as you thought. First of all the patent examiner will look for novelty – that is something new. So before you proceed with your patent prosecution, your application must contain this novelty theme. In case you are in doubt or are unable to incorporate novelty in your idea, you should seek professional advice or you can seek our advice. We have been in this business for over twenty years so we would know what to do – we would be able to incorporate some issue of novelty in your application by tweaking it look like something new. New means new to the market and unless you are aware of market offerings, you would not be able to handle it – and don’t leave it to the patent agent (the run of the mill type) as that is not their job. Let us help you in this as we have been heavily involved in the products market for a long time.

The second and not less important issue according to the patent examiner is that of 'inventiveness' which is nothing to laugh about as everyone will have a different perspective of what 'inventiveness' is all about! But rest be assured, we would be able to help you to incorporate 'inventiveness' in your application – we would think out of the box and help you tweak your idea to incorporate 'inventiveness' according to our perspective. In certain circumstances your idea would be tweaked into something different but yet within the context of your idea – or perhaps giving you a new perspective into a totally different product that you can better exploit the marketplace. However the issue of 'inventiveness' is not the same in different jurisdictions, so we will have to identify the jurisdiction in your best marketplace or the place where you will have the best chance of competition bearing in mind that there are many ways to skin a cat. Hope you get this right before you go for filing – it would take you a few years before you will get feedback from the patent examiner.

It is for the above mentioned reasons that the Malaysian Patent Agent should help you to draft the appropriate application so that you will be able to obtain patent grant. However, there are more issues that need to be attended to like whether your application is considered as implying infringement of others, so there is a need to do further research on the topic. Obviously,it is the duty of the Malaysian Patent Agent to take a deep look into the matter so that there is no possibilty of implied infringment to occur but it is nevertheless a heavy task that the run of the mill patent agent would not want to touch.There is another issue that needs to be aware of - and that is the whether the idea can be implemented in the industry. It would be obvious that it is a waste of time and resources if the idea cannot be produced - sometime the product can only be produced at a great cost. Practicability is still relevant in this modern day as most raw materials are experiencing an increase cost.

Now let's get to the law first

Now what are Patents in the context of Malaysian Law?

Malaysia grants two types of patents: Standard Patent and Utility Innovation

Patent Grantsare exclusive rights given for an invention, which is a product or a process that provides a new way of doing something, a new process or a new technical solution to solve a problem. It is required to have inventiveness or an inventive step - as well as to be novel, meaning that it has never been disclosed before and furthermore it must be able to be rendered. Patent grants can have more than one claim.

An Utility Innovation Certificateis an exclusive right granted for a "minor" invention which does not require to satisfy the test of inventiveness as required of a standard patent. It also have to be novel, meaning that it has not been disclosed before; furthermore it must be able to be rendered. Utility Innovation can have only one claim in Malaysia but may have more than one claim in other jurisdictions. The protection is thus narrower but it is harder to be invalidated .

Both will have to go through substantive examination which will take at least five years in Malaysia. However, it will take fewer years in some other jurisdictions. If relevant, you may file both the Utility Innovation and Patent together but the former will require less time to obtain grant of certificate.

What is patentable under the Malaysian Patent Act 1983?

It is patentable if:-

* it has NOVELTY (newness)

* it incorporates an INVENTIVE step (which is not obvious to those skilled in the arts)

* it is applicable in INDUSTRY

However there is a slight difference for the application of a certificate of utility innovation in that you will not have to proof of inventive step but you will need to show that it is novel. For the issue of novelty we will need to do a meaningful search as there is a ton of materials out there. Finding something relevant is an art as you will need to use the right keyword - like missing the tree for the forest. We will use our expertise to help you search for novelty.

It is not patentable if:-

a) it is a mathematical models, a discovery or it is a scientific theory ;

b) is a plant or animal variety or essentially biological process for the production of plant or animals, other than man-made living micro-organisms, micro-biological processes and the products of such micro-organism processes;

c) is a scheme, rule or method for doing business (including internet business methods), performing purely mental acts or playing games;

d) is a method for the treatment of human or animal body by surgery or therapy, and diagnostic methods practiced on the human or animal body, provided that these shall not apply to products used in any such methods.

Malaysian Patent Grant confers the right to the owner to exclude others from using the invention and:-

a) a exclusive right to exploit the invention ;

b) assign the patent to a third party;

c) to license out

Protection Period

A Malaysian Patent is protected for 20 years from the date of filing and a Malaysian Utility Innovation is protected 10 years( extendable twice by 5 years each) from the date of filing and subject to commercial usage.

Malaysian patents are governed by the Malaysia Patents Act 1983 (amended)

Can a Malaysian file in other countries first?

Under the "National Security (Section 23A and 62A ) Enactment Law", Malaysian citizens are required to first file in Malaysia before filing in other countries. However, for those who deem it fit to file first in other countries, they must first seek written authority from the Registrar of Patents.

Filing Process and Timeframe

Filing in Malysia requires:-

* application forms (including appointing agent form where relevant)

* specifications and drawings

* required fees

Examination will then be carried out for:-

* Formatting and completeness of documents (about 5 weeks)

* Substantive Examination (about 4 to 5 years)

Substantive examination can only preceed when permission is granted and the required fees paid. There is also a new expedited process for substantive examination. Again, a request has to be filed to get permission and an additional fee to be paid. Expedited process cuts short the period of prosecution by six months.

A Malaysia Patent Grant will be issued when the examiners find that the requirements are fulfilled.

File under the Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT)

For international applications that has entered the national phase in Malaysia, a request for substantive examination must be filed within 20 months from the filing date of the first application in a national phase country.

However, a PCT application has to be lodged and amount of fees paid in the host country within 12 months of first filing to enjoy priority claims.

For ASEAN Patent Examination Co-operation ("ASPEC") Programme :-

If full substantive examination is requested for a Malaysia patent application, and if the applicant has filed a corresponding application in a participating ASEAN country, it is possible to submit search and examination results from the corresponding application to assist with examination of the Malaysia patent application. Countries like Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and Malaysia are members of this grouping.

Patent Infringements | Malaysia

* Where to file for infringements?

All infringements must be filed at the High Court

* Is there a posibility of remediation?

There is no express provisions for remediation at the moment.

* Who can represent at the court?

Advocate or Solicitor.

* What to initiate proceedings?

File a writ of summons/statement of claim at the court.

* Can a party be compelled to disclose documents/materials?

Yes.

* How are arguments and evidents presented?

When a court proceeding starts.

* How long does a trial last?

12 days.

* Can court desicions be based on precedent cases?

Yes.

* Can a patent be invalidated?

Yes.

You might want to take a closer look of Malaysian Infringement Laws

Before anything else, a search will be done to determine what is available out there - similar, almost similar and different technologies. From search, we will have uncovered a multitude of both granted patent and also published but yet to be granted applications. It is from this research that we will find out what are the paths that we cannot cross and also what are the ideas that we can pursue. Although it is not possible to do a thorough search on those that have been published, it however will give us a guide as to what we can pursue which in most occasions is very narrow. The other more important thing is to continue doing search, even after the patent draft have been filed as it is useful to dig out newer technologies that were not uncovered during the prior search. As patents are normally not published before eighteen months, it goes to be useful if we were to continue performing search because if we find that there are similar technologies that were approved, then we should go about amending our specifications and claims so as to have a better chance of it being granted a patent - amendments is part of our job. So you can see now that the job of a patent agent is not over when filing has been done - we are different. The other thing about doing search is that we will be updated to the latest technology; new ideas are sparked. Search will also help trigger our curiosities on things that have meaning in our life.

What if the search shows something similar?

In the intellectual property world, it is more often than not that there are similar technologies all over the place. Some are slightly different whilst others could be of close similarity. So you would want to ponder why do you have similar patents. The answer is that different authorities look differently when granting patents. Even same authorities often err in their intepretation of similar specifications - with the result of court actions to invalidate the concerning patent. But we at Patentagentip do have a practical approach when we encountered similar specifications in that we will use our intellect to envision new specifications that will help us to evade infringement issues. We do take each problem seriously and in a positive manner in order that we won't be saddled by what we found - taking the course of there is more than one way to skin a cat (figuratively).

Patent Analytics - this is what we will do to help you better focus on the important thing.

Before you go ahead to file your patent, you should have a good view of the patent landscape because you will need to know who your neighbours are and we will help you in that. Nowadays patent analytics is usually performed by computer algorithms. However although algorithms can help to gather a lot of information regarding what patents are published out there, it will tell you the significance of those patents in terms of market value. We at Patentagentip will perform a patent landscape for you to see who your neighbours are as well as using human intelligence to help you gauge what patents are required in terms of the progress of technology – which can help you in up-marketing of technology. Patent Analytics or analysis is an essential part of technology development but it is not usually performed in Malaysia as people are not aware of its importance – we are all only engrossed in getting our patents filed as quick as possible disregarding whether it is relevant or not.

Equally important is to have a good view of the patent landscape.

A properly culled patent landscape will give you a good view of your hunting ground. The view is like that of a drone flying over a forest and taking a video of it - which will help you to focus and to further evolve your idea. You will also get to know what not to thread on as you will not want to be accused of infringing on the rights of others. Small companies will need to be very careful before they embark on filing for patent because a small wrong move can bring about an untoward attention from the bigger guys - perhaps even being threatened with cease and desist (legal term to say that you should not exist).

When darfting patents, one of the most important thing to do is to use appropriate keywords because in our world of searching, whether it is by the authorities or the people who will make you break or succeed, the onus is on using the appropriate keyword. In the context of patent drafting, selecting the right keyword will depend on what you want the patent to do for you. If like most of the practical people around the world who would want themselves to be noticed, using keywords that are relevant to the commercial sector will enhance the chance of being noticed - where people who would want to buy your thing will come to you. But before that you would also need to select the right keyword to put in your specifications so that your patent can be identified and acted on. You are advised not to use superfluous words that convey no meaning to the searcher (almost everyone do some searching in their course of life) - those who are technically advance would want to show off their knowledge by using terms that nobody understands! Keywords is after all what we do in order to search for something - and using the right keyword makes all the difference. They also do not teach you about keywords in the universities and you have to learn it as part of survival - we will help you out on that.

There is another aspect of patent drafting and that is of cross-licensing. In our fast moving world there are many developments that look the same as that of our rivals! Similarity seems to thrive in where it is not supposed to - so copying is something that we can't escape from even if we do not want to. Patent Infringements normally leads to litigations - if you are a start-up you will not want to be at the other end of rope. The answer is perhaps to draft your specifications and claims to work towards the domain of cross-licensing in some future events - work passively. We at Patentagentip will help you to cross this very narrow strait so that you would not be frustrated when someone knocks at your door steps in the middle of the night to confront you with a writ - the sad thing is it happens more often than you think. Heard of trolls?

How much is your patent worth?

Another issue is the worth of your patent or to put it in laymen's term, how valuable is your patent. You can make your patent valuable just by using the right keyword and the right specifications. There is a skill to it and not only that you will need to have plenty of patience - the kind that pushes you on when you have not found anything relevant even after a mental torturing sojourn. In oreder to put a value to a patent, you will need to have a good knowledge of how the market works - some great technology item do fail because of the failure of understanding of human needs. We will also need to have a good technology landscape just to be able to pick out the one that best answer to the needs of the consumer - and that leads to sectoring for you can't make something that can be targeted at everybody. You should beware of wrong use of a keyword is all that you need to make your product worth nothing after all the hard work done! At the end of the day it is patent analytics (by human intellect) that is going to save your day - and we at PatentAgentip do it all the time. It is no more shooting from the hips.

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