New Science Minister

Research and innovation is under science minister portfolio. Our new science, technology and innovation minister is Maximus Ongkili. Maximus holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics from La Trobe University, Australia. He was a lecturer in UPM. He entered politics by joining Parti Bersatu Sabah.

Previously he was appointed as a Minister in the Prime Minister's Department with a specific role in promoting National Unity and Integration.

He is humble with down to earth image.

New Domestic Trade Minister

IP is under domestic trade minister portfolio in Malaysia. Shahrir Samad is sworn in as our new domestic trade minister. He holds a bachelors degree in statistics and an MBA.

Before the elections, he was the chairman of Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club (BNBBC) and Publics Account Committee (PAC). He resigned from BNBBC in 2006 because he couldn't get support from other BNBBC members to support a motion to query a 'close one eye' incident at Melaka customs. When he was PAC chairman he was tasked to investigate the Port Klang Free Trade Zone scandal. Viewed as a person with high integrity, his appointment as domestic trade minister shows the seriousness of the government in healing local economies. Domestic trade ministry is one of the toughest and most criticized ministry. Bread and butter issue is one of the main concern voiced by voters.

He maintain a blog in Bahasa Malaysia.

Malaysia increased PCT Filings in 2007

Malaysia experienced an increase in PCT applications from 60 applications in 2006 to 103 applications in 2007 according to WIPO. The applications refer to Malaysia residents or organizations who filed PCT phase 1 applications in Malaysia. Malaysians have increased awareness in patent filing by being a member of PCT since August 2006.

However, the number of applications are far from any of the top three patent filers. USA lead the pack with 52,000 applications. Next is Japan halve away with 28,000 applications. The third place goes to Germany with 18,000 applications. There are 156,000 filings for PCT in 2007.

The statistic noted increased filings in East Asia particularly Korea (7,000 at 4th place) and China (5,400 at 7th place).

Malaysia's neighbor, Singapore has 542 applications to become the top filer in South East Asia. Malaysia's population is more than five times the size of Singapore. However, Singapore has more than five times PCT filings than Malaysia. Malaysia is second in South East Asia.

The top three PCT applicants with published patents are Matsushita (2100), Phillips (2041) and Siemens (1,644). Huawei of China is 4th with 1365 applications published. Each top 50 applicants have more than 200 published patents.

The top three fields of PCT applications published in 2007 are telecommunications (10.5%), information technology (10.1%) and pharmaceuticals (9.3%) sectors.

WIPO News Release: LINK

To Choose a Word mark or Logo?

For business owners who are on a budget. What if you have to choose between applying a trademark for a word mark or logo?

Word mark eg. ADIDAS, TOYOTA
Advantage
- Prevent similar mark that sounds alike. eg. Sony can prevent Suny in the market.
- Can be used for any logo. eg. Coca-cola logo has evolved over 100 years but the Coca-cola word remains as the brand.
Disadvantage
- Can't prevent logos that look similar

Logo mark


Advantage
- Protects logo that look similar and may extend protection to words in logo
- Cost effective way to protect both word and logo
Disadvantage
- Protection is limited to the appearance of logo. Can't be used for evolution of new logo. Hence new logo are treated as separate and new mark.

Choosing a Logo

A logo is the face of a product or business. It is the first thing that people look at to identify your business or product. It is printed on business cards, letter head or any advertising material. Care is needed in order to choose the right logo. Feng shui believers take the extra trouble to match their birth date to colors that are auspicious to the owner. From my observation, successful logo incorporates word brand into their logo such as 'Coca-cola', 'Samsung' and 'Nokia'.

Logo design is an art. It follows the wind of fashion. Look at the top ten trends that will define logo design in 2008.

Logo is also a form of trademark. Good trademark are 'distinctive' from product. The 'distinctive' character allows the product to be easily identified by consumer.