JOHOR BARU: Literature recorded the highest number of copyright applications last year with 7,382 compared to other fields in the country, says the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO).
Its chairman Dr Mohd Zuhan Mohd Zain said that overall copyright applications last year increased to 9,363, from the 6,807 recorded in 2023.
Besides literature, the visual arts field recorded 993 applications while there were 329 for films.
“Music only recorded 95 applications which is among the lowest last year, followed by 65 applications in the sound recording field,” Mohd Zuhan told members of the media after attending a MyIPO programme in Masjid Taman Pulai Indah here yesterday.
He urged content creators and entrepreneurs to take advantage of the low processing fees to copyright their works.
“The fee is only RM200 but it provides a lifetime protection for the artiste’s work which extends to 50 years after the copyright owner’s death.
“Copyright is important especially to artistes as their works needs to be protected from plagiarism and counterfeiting.
“If the person did not register his or her work for copyright then it will be difficult to take legal action against a third party that copies it.”
He added that there has been a steady increase of individuals applying to patent their products and brands as intellectual properties within the last six years.
However only a fraction of local small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs) have registered their brands and products with MyIPO.
Last year, MyIPO registered 51,591 patents from 65,660 applications, of which only 10% were from SMEs.
In 2023, more than 45,000 patents were registered out of 61,600 applications.
Mohd Zuhan said the number of SMEs that have patented their products and brands with MyIPO was quite small given that there are more than 200,000 local entrepreneurs all over Malaysia.
“We have set a target of getting 70,000 individuals as well as SMEs to register with MyIPO this year to protect their products and brands,” he said, adding that the body will work closely with state governments to get more registrations.
Mohd Zuhan also said that there must be more awareness among local entrepreneurs on the need to protect their products and brands from being illegally copied.
“Education is key as some still do not know the importance of registering with MyIPO.
“It is important that before starting their business, SMEs copyright their products.
“Once they have already registered with MyIPO for their product, brand and even logo, action can be taken against anyone that counterfeits them.”
