‘MYIPO all for local entrepreneurs’

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PROMOTING AWARENESS: A section of the participants at the seminar.

BINTULU: The Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MYIPO) will continue to provide support for local entrepreneurs in the state to promote their products at the local and overseas markets.

In stating this, MYIPO Trademarks Division senior director Abdul Aziz Ismail said this will create awareness among the entrepreneurs on the importance of intellectual property protection as well as the opportunity to commercialise their intellectual property assets.

“I am confident…(this) will help the target groups make their way into small businesses,” he said in a press conference after the opening of the Intellectual Property Awareness seminar at ParkCity Everly Hotel Bintulu here on Wednesday.

He said intellectual property is a form of economic wealth and was part of an effective branding tool to promote their products and add value to them.

He added any intellectual property translated in the form of products or services would give the same benefits and functions as tangible assets that can be traded or licensed with high value.

“For example, the Upin and Ipin animation founded by Syarikat Les Copaque now have licensed the use of its trademark for other companies to manufacture the products as gifts without having to issue any capital for this purpose but only to collect royalty revenue from licensing its trademark,” he said.

At the same time, he said the protection of intellectual property also gives the owner of an enterprise the exclusive right to exploit the use of the intellectual property such as, marketing and licensing rights.

In addition he said, intellectual property owners can also take legal action against anyone who uses its intellectual property without permission.

The statistics of trademark application filed in MYiPO Sarawak Branch Office also showed an increase every year.

“As of May this year, a total of 152 applications for trademarks were filed compared to 92 applications for the same period in 2010 which showed an increase of 65 per cent,” he said.

This figure he added clearly shows that many entrepreneurs have realised the importance of intellectual property protection.

When asked about local products, Aziz said to date some 11 local products have been registered with MYIPO among which are the Sarawak pepper, Sarawak layer cake, Dabai Sarawak , Litsea Sarawak and Bario rice.

“I believe that with the concerted efforts of all parties, especially the state government, the application for intellectual property protection in the state has improved every year,” he said.

At the same time, he encouraged entrepreneurs to take advantage of the facilities, incentives and intellectual property protection undertaken by the government in an effort to build their capacity to succeed in local and global markets.

About 120 participants of local entrepreneurs and individuals as well as from organisations and government agencies here attended the seminar.

Among those present were Deputy Resident (Social) Richard Michael Abunawas and Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Bintulu branch head Mohamad Drahman.