Good time to invest in Creativity, Innovation - Kamel

A SLOWDOWN in the economy should not inhibit people from being creative and innovative, Intellectual Property Corp of Malaysia (MyIPO) director-general Kamel Mohamad said.

Rather it gives them more time to be creative and innovative in coming out with distinctive and stronger designs or brands.

"This is the time to invest in creativity and innovation because you need to prepare for the next wave of economic recovery," he told a news conference in conjunction with Educational Workshop on Non-Traditional Trademarks in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

"If you wait for the economy to recover, you may find that others have already filed for the same registration, while designers would cost more," he said. Kamel said the first two months of this year saw about 10 per cent drop in applications for trademarks by local and foreign companies compared with the same period in 2008.

In January this year, MyIPO received 1,383 filings for trademark registration from local and foreign companies, compared with 2,010 in January last year.

A total of 1,919 filings were received in February, down from 1,933 in the same month last year.

Kamel attributed the downtrend to the current economic situation.

New York-based Foreign Trademark Association external relations manager Mark L. Neighbors said globally, the application for trademark and patent registration is trending downwards due to the global economic downturn.

MyIPO, a corporatised entity under Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry, is currently reviewing the existing intellectual property (IP) laws in the country to make them relevant to the changing environment.

Kamel said MyIPO is considering expanding the scope of definition of trademark in the Trademarks Act 1976 to include non-traditional trademarks such as sound, smell, shape, taste and texture.

The current conventional marks include letters, words, logos, pictures, symbols or combinations of these elements.

The amendment to the Act is expected to take place within three years.

Kamel said MyIPO is currently consulting with all IP stakeholders for the revision of the law.

"We have to strike a balance between protecting IP owners and promoting creativity. We don't want to create a monopolistic situation that restrains creativity of others," he said. - Business Times

Cash up to RM30,000 for National IP Award

MyIPO is proud to present the Annual National IP Award. The award was given since 2006 in conjunction with the celebration of National Intellectual Property Day. The award is a recognition for inventors/creators for the contribution of their intellectual property towards the nation’s socio-economic development.

Cash prizes up to RM30,000 is awarded to the best organization with the most contribution and recognition of IP in 2008. Cash prizes up to RM10,000 is awarded respectively for best patent, trademark and industrial design of 2008.

For nomination details refer:
http://www.myipo.gov.my/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=229

Why does Huawei uses the PCT?

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd, a major international telecommunications company based in Shenzhen, filed 1,737 PCT applications in 2008, to be the top PCT applicant in 2008. Panasonic Corporation (Japan) was the second largest user of the PCT in 2008 with 1,729 international applications, followed by Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Netherlands, 1,551 PCT applications). This is the following statement by Huawei showing its support for PCT:

The Patent Cooperation Treaty has played an important role in the international patent system since 1978 when the Treaty came into effect. It is a milestone in the history of the PCT that the number of international applications will reach one million indicating that the PCT system has been recognized increasingly worldwide.

The PCT system brings so many advantages to the applicants, with particular importance to enterprises and individuals of developing countries. With the process of developing a national corporation into a worldwide business, Huawei, as a high-tech enterprise of China, has a strong desire to seek patent protection abroad for inventions. In recent years, Huawei has filed approximately 400 international applications and has kept a steady increase of almost 50% every year.

Under the PCT, an applicant will file a single application in one language to only one patent office for little cost within 12 months from the date of the initial application, and then will be allowed an expiration of 30 months from the priority date to decide finally in which states the applicant wants to pursue protection. Furthermore, the PCT way offers high quality international search or international preliminary examination which provides important references for the applicant to make a decision whether to enter the national phase or abandon the application. By delaying national procedures and analyzing the search report, the applicant obtains a long period of time to evaluate the commercial value of the invention and knows the possibility of grant opportunity. Thus, through PCT procedure, the applicant will save a great deal of money if the invention is considered to have no value in any of the states.

Upon said benefits of PCT, Huawei has regarded the PCT as a main way and an important strategy of foreign application. Huawei's number of PCT applications is expected to increase further in the coming years. With best wishes for more and more people knowing and using the PCT way to file foreign patents and taking substantial benefits from this admirable procedure.

Cheng Xuxin
IP Department
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Shenzhen, People's Republic of China

Malaysia has 177 PCT Applications

WIPO continued to receive international patent applications from developing countries in 2008. The largest number of applications received came from the Republic of Korea (7,908) and China (6,089) followed by India (766), Brazil (451), South Africa (382), Turkey (367), Mexico (210), and Malaysia (177).

Malaysia registered a growth of 64% in PCT filings compared to 2007.

Top PCT Applicants

For the first time, a Chinese company topped the list of PCT applicants in 2008. Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd, a major international telecommunications company based in Shenzhen, filed 1,737 PCT applications in 2008. Panasonic Corporation (Japan) was the second largest user of the PCT in 2008 with 1,729 international applications, followed by Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Netherlands, 1,551 PCT applications), Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Japan, 1,364 PCT applications) and Robert Bosch GMBH (Germany, 1,273 PCT applications).

Of the top 100 companies using the PCT system in 2008, 38 were from the United States, 28 from Japan and 13 from Germany. One other Chinese company, ZTE Corporation, also a Shenzen-based telecommunications company, figured in the top 100 user list. - WIPO

PCT fillings grew by 2.4% in 2008

International patent filings under WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) grew by 2.4% in 2008, to nearly 164,000 applications. While the rate of growth was modest, as compared to an average 9.3% rate of growth in the previous three years, the total number of applications for 2008 represents the highest number of applications received under the PCT in a single year. Continued use of the PCT, a cornerstone of the international patent system, indicates that companies recognize the importance of sustained investment in research, development and innovation to remain competitive even within challenging economic conditions.

Inventors from the Republic of Korea (+12.0%), China (+11.9%) and Sweden (+12.5%) enjoyed robust growth rates in their filing of PCT applications in 2008. The largest number of international PCT applications, just under a third of the total for 2008 (32.7% or 53,521 applications) were filed by inventors in the United States of America, maintaining a ranking that has spanned some thirty years.

“Historically, patent filings tend to dip during periods of economic difficulty simply because fewer resources are available for investment in the innovation cycle. Once the economic cycle improves, patenting activity tends also to recover. That said, economic crises have, in the past, been a catalyst for innovation as greater emphasis is placed on improving standards of efficiency, doing more with less and identifying and developing smarter business solutions,” said Mr. Francis Gurry, Director General of WIPO. “In the current economic climate, technology, innovation and creativity are critical in creating opportunities for economic renewal and addressing pressing global issues such as climate change,” he added.

Inventors and corporations from Japan, with 17.5% (28,774) of all filings, clinched the number two spot in 2008, followed by Germany (18,428), Republic of Korea (7,908) France (6,867), China (6,089), United Kingdom (5,517), Netherlands (4,349), Sweden (4,114), Switzerland (3,832), Canada (2,966), Italy (2,939), Finland (2,119), Australia (2,028) and Israel (1,882). In 2008, China improved its ranking by one place, to become the sixth largest user of the PCT. - WIPO

US Approves First Human Embryonic Stem Cell Study

The US FDA has approved the first human trials of human embryonic stem cell research, authorizing researchers to test whether the cells are safe to use in spinal injury patients, U.S. biotech firm Geron Corp. announced Friday.

The tests could begin by summer, said Dr. Thomas Okarma, president and CEO of the Geron Corp. The trials will use human stem cells authorized for research by then President George W. Bush in 2001. The patients will be those with the most severe spinal cord injuries, called complete spinal cord injuries.

The primary purpose of the trial will be to see whether injecting these cells into patients is safe, but Okarma said researchers will also look for any signs of recovery. Scientists will monitor the patients for a year after the injections to see if they are regaining any function below the injured point.

Whatever its outcome, the study will mark a new chapter in the history of embryonic-stem-cell research in the United States -- a field where debate spilled out of the laboratory long ago and into national politics. While some overseas doctors claim to use human embryonic stem cells in their clinics, stem-cell experts said they knew of no previous human studies that use such cells.

The trials will involve eight to 10 patients who are completely paralyzed below the third to 10th vertebra, and who sustained their spinal cord injury within seven to 14 days. The tests will use stem cells cultured from embryos left over in fertility clinics, which otherwise would have been discarded.

Using the stem cells, researchers have developed cells called oligodendrocytes, which are precursors to nerve cells and which produce a protective layer around nerve cells known as myelin. Researchers will inject these nerve cells directly into the part of the spine where the injury occurred.

Embryonic stem cells are blank cells found in four- to five-day-old embryos, which have the ability to turn into any cell in the body. However, when stem cells are removed, the embryo is destroyed -- which has made this one of the most controversial medical research fields in the past decade.

Federal research funds were prohibited for embryonic stem-cell research until August 2001, when Bush approved spending for research using only already-existing cell lines. Scientists later discovered that fewer than two dozen of those lines were useful for research, but abortion opponents opposed any legislation that would lift Bush's restrictions, and Bush twice vetoed congressional efforts to roll back his rules.

President Obama is expected to loosen the restrictions, which many researchers and advocates have complained severely set back work toward curing disease such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and diabetes. - Xinhua