Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 8): Malaysia has fallen one spot to the 24th place out of 50 economies analysed by the US Chamber of Commerce's Global Innovation Policy Centre, which looks at unique indicators that are critical to an innovation-led economy.

This was the findings of the 7th edition of the GIPC's annual International Intellectual Property Index, in which Malaysia scored 49.7% overall, an improvement over the 48.68% recorded in the 6th edition. The score also puts Malaysia in 2nd place among Southeast Asian nations.

The ranking is based on the assessment of 45 unique indicators that are seen as key to an innovation-led economy that is supported by robust patent, trademark, copyright and trade secrets protection, GIPC said in a statement today.

"Malaysia's score illustrates how the country has taken some positive steps to bring its IP framework more closely in line with its Southeast Asian economy peers," said GIPC international policy executive director Ellen Szymanski.

Malaysia has the potential to increase its economic competitiveness with pro-IP policies, particularly “as it strives to become a leader in Southeast Asia and on the global stage”, GIPC noted.

The country's key areas of strength it identified were: new case law that strengthens the Customs enforcement environment against infringing goods in transit, research and development (R&D), generous research and development and IP-specific tax incentives in place, and the establishment of PPH agreements between the Intellectual Property Corp of Malaysia (MyIPO) with the European Patent Office (EPO) and the Japan Patent Office (JPO).

Another area of strength it noted was the strong focus of the Malaysian Government on IP as a commercial asset and technology transfer.

As for the key areas of weaknesses, they were: the Government use licence (compulsory licence) issued in 2017 for sofosbuvir — a drug to treat hepatitis C; the full term of protection of de facto regulatory data protection (RDP) not offered to new products; and patent term restoration not being offered.

“Given how much progress Malaysia has made in improving its IP framework in the seven editions of the index, it is critical that the Government rejects further attempts to weaken the IP framework through the use of compulsory licences. Further, to emerge as a leading middle-income economy and continue to attract global investment, the Government must create a more robust patent environment, which is critical to protecting innovative, biopharmaceutical innovation in Malaysia,” Szymanski said.

The GIPC said the index creates a blueprint for policymakers who wish to bolster economic growth, create jobs, and foster innovation and creativity. It presents an objective, data-driven view of competitiveness in a global market, based on criteria used by the business community when determining where to invest, it said.

“The 2019 index can serve as a roadmap for the Malaysian Government to create a stronger overall business environment through more effective IP regime.” added Szymanski. “Through stronger IP policies, Malaysia will increase its ability to attract more venture capital, foreign investment, and private sector investment in R&D.”

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