Myanmar: Bulletin updates on the new trade mark registration in Myanmar

16 Oct 2020    2 minute read
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In brief

Updates on the new trade mark registration system in Myanmar and the early issues encountered.

Contents

Bulletin updates on the new trade mark registration in Myanmar:

  • The new Trade Mark Registration System was officially launched on 1 October 2020 as scheduled. The Myanmar IP Department (MIPD) held a live online session to commemorate the event.

  • The registration system has since encountered several issues and outages. The MIPD held a session on 8 October to explain the situation and announced that the system will be unavailable until 11 October as they conduct technical maintenance. The system has since resumed to normal operation as of 12 October.

  • From our use of the system, we can report the following concerns, issues and limitations:
     
    • To help manage bandwidth and system issues, the MIPD has limited the issuance of user accounts having access to the system to one account per agent. Having a single account severely impacts the rate at which we can process and complete applications, and we ask clients to bear with us as we deal with this limitation. We are hopeful that more user accounts would be issued in due course.

    • The system has a "traffic light" feature that automatically screens whether the specification of goods or services are lodged in the proper class. Specifications that are deemed acceptable for the class are highlighted as green. Where there is inconsistency whether the specifications will be accepted for the class, the specifications will be featured in amber. Specifications which are deemed unacceptable for the class will be featured in red.

    • It appears from our testing that most specifications tend to be categorized as amber at the moment, despite being acceptable in various other countries. We suspect this may be due to technical teething issues. Hopefully, the system will accept more specifications after further use. Note that applications can be submitted even though the specifications are featured in amber or red, subject to the caveat that items in red will likely face objections.

We are monitoring developments closely and will continue to issue updates. Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Contact Information
Andy Leck
Principal, Singapore and Yangon
Singapore
andy.leck@bakermckenzie.com

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