The Trans-Pacific Partnership – Implications For Malaysia

Malaysia entered into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) together with 11 other countries on 5 October 2015. The official TPP was released on 5 November 2015 in Malaysia by the Ministry of Inter­national Trade and Industry (MITI), and can be found on the MITI website in the Malaysian Free Trade Agreements section. In this article, we have reviewed the IP-related issues concerning Malaysia.

Patent Term Extensions

The existing patent term regime in Malaysia lasts for 20 years and there are currently no provisions for patent term extensions in Malaysia.

Article 18.46 of the TPPA introduced an obligation to prevent unreasonable delays to the patent application process. Crucially, it imposes a duty on signatory states to adjust patent terms to compensate for any unnecessary delays. According to Article 18.46(4), an unreasonable delay shall include a delay in the issuance of a patent of more than five years from the date of filing of the application in the territory