Malaysian Industrial Design Agent


Industrial Designs - we are a Malaysian Industrial Design Agent


How do you recognise an industrial design? And how can we help you?


But first of, an Industrial Design (in the intellectual property parlance) is the outward appearance of an object and that is all that matters. Nothing to do with its inner workings if there is any. According to the Malaysian Registrar of Patents, an industrial design is the ornamental or aesthetic aspect of an article. The design may consist of two or three-dimensional features such as the shape and configuration of an article. It is mainly concern with its pattern and ornamentation. The design features must be applied to an article by any industrial process or means of which the features in the finished article appeal visually.


PatentAgentip is a Registered Malaysian Industrial Design Agent. We provide industrial design searches, researching and filing for the territories of Malaysia, Singapore, ASEAN and beyond.


There is a vague distinction between a patent and an industrial design, and often enough, when you have to choose between the two, you would need expert advice to distinguish which is which.

The chief difference between a patent and an industrial design is that there is normally a mechanism in it and a industrial design does not. An industrial design is an outside feature or shape of an article. It has no internal function or mechanism. An example of a patent could be a massaging chair (with its internal massager) and an industrial design is the outward appearance of the chair.

So an industrial design protection refers to an outward appearance, its shape. You can have both a patent and an industrial design on an article. When you are faced with which to choose to file your idea, always seek proper advice as there is a big difference in the cost and time to secure the two categories. But you can have both and eat it too! Why do we say that? Well, let us take an example of a chair - to most anybody, he or she would probably think of the chair as an example of an industrial design right? We would want to think of it as a patent and an industrial design because "we" can make the chair the topic of a patent or an utility innovation (smaller patent). How do we do it? All right, we could incorporate features into the chair that will make it stand out as a patent candidate. Would you not like your industrial design to also obtain a grant of patent?

Yes, you would love to because getting a grant of patent for it would mean that others would not be able to copy it. And others will have to scratch their head wondering how on earth you managed to obtain the patent! We have helped clients on many occasions to obtain a patent for their industrial designs. That said, we will need to be modest about it. It would most probably be a utility innovation as it does not require the proof of an inventive step. Still interested? Well, get in touch with us and we promise there will be an interesting journey for you and us. And don't ask other people for they will not know how to do it!


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How long is the Protection?

An industrial design grant is given an initial protection period of 5 years from the date of filing. It is extendable for a further four consecutive terms of 5 years each provided the maintenance fee is paid. The maximum protection period is 25 years.



Malaysian Industrial Designs is governed by the Industrial Designs Regulations 1999.