The Malaysian Patent Act 1983 covers the protection for invention by allowing registration of patent for inventions that are new, involves an inventive step, and industrially applicable. The laws for patent go further than these three requirements, but a point to be made here is that once an applicant has received the patent registration under their name, the protection does not go beyond the idea of the invention.
Specifically, this means that patent application protects only the invention aspect, or in other words, the process that offers a new technical solution to a problem. If you have invented anything, for example, a walking stick device that is considered new, inventive in its step and can be mass produced, the actual product of the actual walking stick will not be protected.
Although the final product of the actual walking stick will not be protected under patent, the final outlook of the walking stick can be protected under industrial design if an application is filed. Industrial design allows the owner of a registered design to own the exclusive right to make, import, sell or hire out any article to which the design has been applied. The word ‘article’ here refers to invention that can be seen with the eyes.
Commercially, it is a reliable way for a comprehensive protection. Both the idea and the commercialization process will be protected, hence prohibiting other parties from gaining the profit of one’s hard work.
If you have a product that you intend to mass produce it and you would like to explore further on the protection that IP can offer, do not hesitate to contact any of our team members for further details.
