Thai King receives WIPO Global Leader Award

The King of Thailand, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, received on January 14, 2009, the WIPO Global Leader Award in recognition of his extraordinary commitment to promoting intellectual property and his important contribution to society as a prolific inventor. The award was presented by WIPO Director General, Mr. Francis Gurry, at a ceremony at the Klai Kangwon Palace in Hua Hin, Thailand. Members of the Privy Council, ministers, senior officials and a high level WIPO delegation were in attendance.

In a citation, Mr. Gurry said “In sharing the fruits of your creativity in the form of invention and musical and artistic works, Your Majesty has not only demonstrated the power of intellectual property to enrich and enhance the quality of daily life and work but has also encouraged people everywhere to create, respect and protect it.”

The King of Thailand is an acclaimed artist with a portfolio of over 1,000 works, including paintings, photos, musical and literary works. He is also an accomplished inventor holding over 20 patents and 19 trademarks. Many of the King’s inventions, which include a water aerator and artificial rainmaking technology, have generated concrete and practical benefits for rural communities in Thailand. - WIPO

Simple to Pronounce and Easy To Remember

Founder and manager director of Marrybrown, Nancy Liew, says the name Marrybrown simply popped into her mind when she decided to start a fast-food business.

“It is simple to pronounce, easy to remember and has an international appeal, as shown when we market the brand overseas,” she says in an interview with StarBizWeek.

Nobody would have imagined or thought that a brand that started in Johor Baru in 1981 would become one that all Malaysians can be proud of. Marrybrown Fried Chicken Sdn Bhd, operator of Malaysia’s largest home-grown fast-food restaurant chain, began at a small shoplot in Jalan Wong Ah Fook. Over the last 28 years, Marrybrown has ventured into other countries, proving that a Malaysian brand is able to make an impact in the global branding fraternity.

Liew says unlike in the fashion or cosmetics business where brands can sometimes be a mouthful or hard to pronounce, it is a big NO in the fast-food industry.

She says most of the international fast-food brands tend to be three-syllable such as KFC, Burger King and McDonald’s, and so is Marrybrown.

Malaysians remain brand loyal despite economic downturn

According to a survey by market research company Synovate, more than three-quarters of Malaysians indicated that they would continue to buy the same brand of consumer products especially fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) like dairy, bread and rice, soft drinks, canned products, healthcare and cosmetic items.

“Brand loyalty continues to thrive, something which advertisers, marketers and brand managers should be pleased to know,” said Synovate Malaysia managing director Steve Murphy in a statement.

Brand switching is more prominent for alcoholic drinks and tobacco products. The survey found that 10% of Malaysians planned to switch to cheaper alcoholic beverages while 5% have already made the change.

Malaysians are spending less on various FMCG products with reduction of 30% for dairy products, 48% for soft drinks, 43% canned products and 28% cosmetic and beauty goods.

Expenditure for staple food items, on the other hand, has stayed consistent. “While a majority of Malaysians remain brand loyal, it’s important to note that they are in fact spending less on some products,” Steve said.

Companies need to step up on advertising and marketing instead of cutting such budget to “remain visible” and position themselves in the minds of consumers, he said.

If the economic conditions were to deteriorate further, consumer sentiment to switch brands would intensify and maintaining brand loyalty would be even more difficult, he added.

Synovate in November interviewed over 1,000 Malaysians from the ages of 15 to 64 across all income levels, as part of its global “State of the Economy” survey. - The Star

Revised Korean Search Fee for PCT

Happy New Year! Happy 2009 year!

The start of the year sees higher PCT filing fee for Malaysians. The Korea IP Office revised their search fee from KRW225,000 (RM869) to KRW900,000 (RM2803), an increase of 400%.

Natural persons no longer qualify for European Patent Office's 75% search fee reduction. Our neighbour's in Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand still qualifies for that discount. However, natural persons of Malaysia still qualifies for 90% reduction in filing fee. Now we are in the same league as Singapore.

Malaysia can nominate Korea, Australia or Europe to perform their PCT search. Each countries set their own fees. As of 1 Jan 2009, the search fees for Korea KRW900,000 (RM2803), Australia AUD1600 (RM3910) and Europe EUR1700 (RM8062). The Korea search fee is still the least fee among the search authorities.

Other than the search fee, Malaysia applicants have to incur transmittal fees and filing fees. The transmittal fees are RM375 and the filing fees are EUR1330 (RM4170).

Malaysia no longer qualifies for 75% search fee reduction

On 21 October 2008, the EPO revised the states that qualifies for 75% search fee reduction for PCT application. According to PCT newsletter (December) the states that qualify for fee reduction effective from 1 January 2009 are listed in the following link:

http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/newslett/2008/12/article_0006.html

Malaysia is not in the list.

An applicant from Malaysia can nominate Europe, Australia or Korea to conduct the PCT search. The search fee, as in Dec 08, on MyIPO website is RM9065 for Europe, RM5153 for Australia and RM869 for Korea. Until today, a natural person from Malaysia qualifies for the 75% fee reduction by nominating Europe to conduct the search. From 1 January 2009 onwards, a natural person from Malaysia no longer enjoys the 75% fee reduction.

The European search report is favored by some applicants because a clear report can hasten patent application and enjoys fee reduction in national phase application.

Top 10 Brands of 2008

The Interbrand valuation for Malaysia's most valuable brand is out. Banks lead the pack with the top three spot with Maybank RM9.3 billion, Public Bank RM6.8 billion and CIMB RM6.2 billion. Hong Leong bank is rated at the tenth spot with RM2.9 billion. Gaming giant Genting is fourth with RM4.4 billion. Parkson, with foreign retail business in China, is a new entry at number five with RM4.2 billion. Telecommunications institution, Celcom is valued at number six with RM3.9 billion and Digi is valued at number nine with RM3.0 billion. Astro is valued at number seven at RM3.4 billion and Petronas is valued at number eight at RM3.0 billion. Maxis has cease to be a public company and not included in the valuation.

Cheetah shifts to high gear

Having been in the sports and casual wear retail industry for three decades, the Cheetah brand has seen steady growth, especially as the number of shopping malls in Malaysia increases.

The company is now shifting up a gear.

“It may be easy to own a brand but a lot of efforts is required to build a strong brand that is easily acceptable or recognisable by the market,” Cheetah chairman and managing director Chia Kee Foo, 46, told StarBiz in an interview. “We should not limit ourselves only to the sports wear and casual wear segments while there is a huge untapped market out there.”

The family business was founded by Chia Yoon Yuen, his wife Hor Ah Kuan and their son Kee Yew, in 1977.

They initially operated out of their single-storey house in Kuala Lumpur with three staff. As the business grew, they moved to a double-storey house, then a shoplot in Taman Maluri in Cheras.

Today, Cheetah is listed on the Bursa Malaysia main board and operates out of a 16,000 sq ft factory in Taman Shamelin Perkasa. It has six home-grown brands: Cheetah, Cheetah Ladies, Cheetah Junior, Cth Unlimited, C-two and C. Union.

It is also the sole distributor for Ladybird children’s wear and GQ men’s office wear.

Chia was roped in to assist his mother in 1979, after his father passed away. He was only 17.

He and his elder brother quickly discovered that it was easier for a product with an easy-to-recognise brand name to get repeat purchases. They then decided on Cheetah as their brand name, and the rest, as they say, is history.

“A cheetah is a unique animal with remarkable speed. We want to move ahead aggressively like one,” Chia said. - The Star