Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore Shall be Collaborating on the Acceleration of Trademark Examinations

JAKARTA – Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore plan strategically in the effort to strengthen cooperation in the field of intellectual property, specifically to accelerate trademark application examinations in the three countries. The collaboration will be carried out through the Trilateral Trademark Acceleration Programme, an initiative proposed by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS).

The programme is expected to improve service efficiency and also to be able to anticipate the increase in the number of trademark applications in each country. The Director of Cooperation, Empowerment and Education of the Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DGIP) of Indonesia, Mr. Yasmon,said that this collaboration is still under discussion. Further discussions are expected to take place by the end of August.

Indonesia, Mr. Yasmon added, welcomes the initiative proposed by IPOS. Indonesia expects that the agreed mechanism shall be beneficial for the intellectual property offices of the region while also strengthening cooperation among intellectual property offices in the region.

Previously, an IPOS delegation had the occasion of visiting the DGIP to discuss several potential areas of cooperation, for which it was raised the subject of Trilateral Trademark Acceleration Programme that would involve the DGIP and the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO). 

As part of the proposed cooperation, the three intellectual property offices are expected to share knowledge and expertise on their respective trademark examination systems and practices. By facilitating the exchange of information and experience, the programme may enable the participating offices to learn from one another and explore ways to streamline and enhance their examination processes.

Trademark Application Volume 

The proposed cooperation has become increasingly relevant given the substantial volume of trademark applications received by the three countries, although the composition of applicants differs significantly among the three countries.

Based on IPOS data, Singapore received 55,080 trademark applications in 2024. Among these, 40,706 applications were filed by foreign applicants, while 14,374 applications were filed by local applicants. This means that most trademark applications in Singapore came from foreign applicants.

In Malaysia, MyIPO data shows that there were 7,428 trademark applications in 2024, consist of 6,435 applications filed by foreign applicants and 993 by local applicants. Similar to Singapore, trademark applications in Malaysia were also dominated by foreign applicants.

Meanwhile, Indonesia has different characteristics. Based on DGIP data, Indonesia received 120,980 trademark applications in 2024 with 23,917 applications filed by foreign applicants and the remainder by local applicants. The data shows that trademark applications in Indonesia were dominated by local applicants.

These differences characteristic highlight the importance of exchanging experience and examinations practice among the three intellectual property offices. Through this trilateral programme, each country is expected to learn from the experience and practices of the other countries to improve the quality and efficiency of its services.

Accelerating Examinations Without Compromising Quality

Accelerating examinations does not mean reducing the quality or thoroughness of trademark examinations. On the contrary, the cooperation is expected to help each intellectual property office to improve efficiency without overlooking the substantive aspects of determining whether a trademark meets the requirements for protection.

As trademark filing volumes continue to grow, improving efficiency has become increasingly important. Without innovation and improvements in service delivery, the growing number of applications could increase the examination workload and extend the time needed to complete the registration process.

Through the Trilateral Trademark Acceleration Programme, collaboration between Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore is not only expected to speed up examination process, but also to encourage the development of a more effective and responsive intellectual property service system that better meets the needs of businesses (SHJ-su).

If you have any further queries regarding this subject, please contact our Associate, Shabrina Januarissa ([email protected])