KUALA LUMPUR: The businessman who submitted a letter of demand to the government for RM1.3 million in compensation related to the 'Madani' Special Vehicle Number Plate Series Programme could "try his luck if he wants to sue".
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said that if the businessman wanted to pursue legal action, he could do so, and the ministry would respond accordingly through the Attorney-General's Chambers (A-GC).
The RM1.3 million legal demand was made by a businessman who claims his copyright was infringed in relation to the Madani vehicle registration plates.
Loke said that upon checking with the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO), the businessman's copyright claim was limited to the paperwork proposal for the plate numbers.
"He can try his luck, but first of all, the authority to register any licence plate falls under the Road Transport Act 1987, which clearly states that this authority lies with the Transport Minister," Loke said.
"We have checked with MyIPO, and what was copyrighted is only the paperwork, not the licence plate itself.
"Licence plates cannot be copyrighted," Loke told a press conference.
He responded to the media after officiating the Cahaya Kasih Madani event.
On Tuesday, Ilham Madani Sdn Bhd director Hasan Azhari Hashim demanded RM1.3 million from the government over an alleged copyright infringement of the Madani vehicle registration plate number.
https://www.nst.com.my/news/crime-courts/2024/11/1129815/updated-busines...
According to the letter of demand, Hasan claimed he was the rightful owner of the copyrighted work "Proposal Paper for the Creation of a Special Serial Vehicle Registration Number Madani 1 to Madani 9999 for Registration in Malaysia".
He claimed it had been lawfully registered in the Copyright Register under Section 26B of the Copyright Act.
On Oct 19, RTD opened bidding for the special Madani series plates.
https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2024/10/1122757/rtd-opens-bidding-mad...
Meanwhile, Loke also explained that the RTD's decision to issue a recall of 3,722 vehicles was made on the requests of the manufacturers involved.
He said according to the latest ministry's standard operating procedures (SOP), if any manufacturers want to recall any of its produced vehicles, they must inform RTD before the agency could issue the recall notice.
"This (recall) was at the request of the manufacturer companies because they found a minor defect based on feedback from their customers.
"For that reason, they reported it to the RTD to initiate the recall," Loke said.
On Sunday, the RTD director-general Datuk Aedy Fadly Ramli announced that the department has issued a recall for 3,722 vehicles, comprising Perodua Alza and Perodua Aruz models, as well as Honda CB350RS motorcycles.
He said the recall covered 2,518 units of the Perodua Alza 1500 X CVT, 1500 H CVT, and 1500 AV CVT, as well as 1,139 units of the Perodua Aruz 1500 X and 1500 AV, due to main headlights that did not meet height specification regulations.
Aedy said the recall also involved 65 Honda CB350RS motorcycles found to have issues with the anti-lock braking system (ABS) and traction control, as well as the wheel speed sensor, which caused inaccurate speedometer readings.