KUALA LUMPUR: The Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO) is still receiving intellectual property application filing through online methods due the enforcement of the Movement Control Order (MCO) and Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO).
Its chairman Datuk Mohamad Alamin said MyIPO received a total of 3,759 online applications on its three intellectual property components which are trademark, patent and industrial design from March till May.
"We received a total of 698 applications in March, 1,500 applications in April and 1,561 in May through online.
"However, we have already operated the application filings manually at the counter since the second week of last month. In total, there were 437 manual applications.
"We received a total of 12,917 of intellectual property application filing from January until May this year," he said at a media briefing on the impact of Covid-19 and MCO on MyIPO application filing today.
He said the filings as well as approval processes have gone smoothly throughout the MCO and CMCO as its staff and officers were more productive while working from home.
He said productivity had increased and this brought positive impact to the agency.
"We encouraged our staff and officers to work from home and they showed higher productivity while working from home. As for manual operation, there was a low number of people registering at the counter as they were perhaps, still afraid to go out and apply manually.
"However, we operate as usual and the public can opt to either register online or manually. If they come to MyIPO to register, they have to follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) set by the government."
Mohamad also hoped that with the high productivity and positive working environment, MyIPO Malaysia can be on par with other intellectual property offices in Asean and the world.
He also urged Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the country to register their patents, trademarks and industrial designs to ensure that their product's were not plagiarised by any major companies.
He said when SMEs registered with the MyIPO, they need not worry about their patent being copied as they have been protected by the agency.
"I believe they are not aware of other quarters that would plagiarise their patent. They should apply with us once they begin their business to ensure that their product is protected.
"We have ongoing programmes that convey such awareness to SMEs.
"Do not wait for other people to copy your patent, and only then decided to register with us. That will be too late."
Mohamad said other companies could file legal suist against quarters which allegedly copy their products and save their business.