The national intellectual property (IP) system provides a critical policy toolkit to foster innovation performance and knowledge diffusion. This report is part of a series of country reviews aimed at identifying how national IP systems can better serve these objectives. The publication National Intellectual Property Systems, Innovation and Economic Development presents the analytical framework used for these country reviews. The framework analyses the key mechanisms that enable IP systems to support countries’ innovation and development objectives. This allows identifying strengths and weaknesses in the IP system’s contributions to national innovation performance.

Malaysia has set for itself the goal of becoming a high-income economy by 2020. This objective can only be realised with the aid of more innovation-driven growth. Malaysia’s national intellectual property (IP) system can contribute meaningfully to supporting innovation, and various policy measures are available to the government to help strengthen these contributions.

This chapter presents the overall assessment of Malaysia’s intellectual property (IP) system and specifies recommendations that can help enhance its contributions to innovation. It provides an overview of the context in which IP policy is made, including the mandates of different government ministries, the composition of Malaysian industry, and the needs, usage, development and attitudes toward IP of different industries and research institutions. Major recommendations include the need to consolidate IP policy making powers within the government, with a strong secretariat providing support; to encourage the use of cheaper and easier-to-access IP rights; to improve collaboration and information sharing between research institutions and industry; and to increase knowledge about, and the use of, IP among smaller businesses and smallholders.

The chapter describes Malaysia’s socio-economic development, its industry and trade structure, and the existing framework conditions for innovation activities, covering human capital, finance and infrastructure. It goes on to provide an overview of the national innovation system and the policy and governance of innovation policy in Malaysia.

This chapter outlines the primary features of Malaysia’s intellectual property (IP) system. It provides an overview of Malaysia’s IP laws and regulations, followed by a description of the IP system, its main institutions and the operational and procedural aspects of the IP system.

This chapter provides an overview of the available statistical evidence on the use of intellectual property (IP) in Malaysia. It compares Malaysia’s performance to that of other economies, including neighbouring member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The chapter analyses the uptake of different types of IP in Malaysia and their use: patents, utility models, trademarks, industrial designs, geographical indications and copyrights.

In Malaysia, there is a wide variety of actual and potential users of intellectual property (IP) whose IP needs differ based on their industry, size, export potential and other factors. This chapter summarises the characteristics and needs of four groups of users: innovators in traditional and informal sectors, “catching-up” businesses (such as SMEs and young companies), leading “frontier” businesses and public research institutions and universities.

The chapter reviews Malaysia’s policies for creating intellectual property (IP) market exchange platforms; developing financing opportunities based on IP; and enhancing firms’ capacities to take up external IP to develop innovations.