General Information

Background

Prior to 1983, intellectual property rights (IPR) in Malaysia was administered by Pejabat Cap Dagangan dan Jaminhak. This Office changed its name to Pejabat Cap Dagangan dan Paten in 1983 and was placed under the jurisdiction of the then Ministry of Trade and Industry.

On 27 October 1990, the Ministry was restructured and the Office was placed under the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs which is now known as Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operative and Consumerism and changed its name to Intellectual Property Division. The Division was tasked to administer Patents Act 1983, Trade Marks Act 1976, and Copyright Act 1987.

The Industrial Designs Act 1996 came into force in 1999, followed by the Layout-Designs of Integrated Circuits Act 2000. In 2001, the Geographical Indications Act 2000 came into force.

To respond to the development of intellectual property at domestic and global levels, the Division was corporatized on 3 March 2003 and known as the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (PHIM), with the enforcement of the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia Act 2002.

The Corporation took an important first step of rebranding when the acronym PHIM became MyIPO on 3 March 2005 at the inaugural National Intellectual Property Day.

Objectives

establishing a strong and effective administration;
strengthening intellectual property laws;
providing comprehensive and user-friendly information on intellectual property;
promoting public awareness programmes on the importance of intellectual property; and
providing advisory services on intellectual property.

Legislations

Organisation Structure

The administration of MyIPO is headed by a Director General and assisted by two Deputy Director Generals.
The structure of the organisation consists of divisions and units as listed below: