PETALING JAYA, Malaysia, Sept 23, 2025 – The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) through the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO) has further solidified its strategic cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), based in Geneva, Switzerland. This collaboration, formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of intellectual property and innovation, places a strong emphasis on advancing Malaysia’s patent system.
The MoU is part of a broader approach to ensure that Malaysia’s intellectual property and innovation ecosystem continues to grow and remain competitive on a global scale. Through this agreement, MyIPO and WIPO will enhance cooperation and knowledge exchange in the following areas:
1. Expanding training and capacity building.
2. Strengthening intellectual property rights enforcement.
3. Providing support and technical assistance.
The signing ceremony for the MoU between MyIPO and WIPO took place during a courtesy visit by Mr. Daren Tang Heng Shim, Director General of WIPO, as part of his working visit to Malaysia from September 22 to 24, 2025.
During the meeting, WIPO expressed its commitment to appoint a MyIPO officer as an ASEAN Visiting Fellow in IP and Economics at WIPO. This appointment will contribute to data-driven research on innovation ecosystems and assess the impact of policies on innovative activities, thereby strengthening regional expertise in innovation economics and intellectual property.
Simultaneously, WIPO invited patent officers, patent professionals, and interested government agencies to enhance their patent drafting skills according to international standards by participating in the WIPO International Patent Drafting Training Program. This includes the Inventor Assistance Program (IAP), which offers individual inventors and small enterprises professional guidance pro bono throughout the patent application process. This initiative benefits patent professionals by improving their drafting skills and enhancing their service reputation, while also improving the quality of local patent applications and strengthening the national innovation ecosystem.
Malaysia and WIPO also agreed to explore various strategic collaborations. Among these initiatives are involvement in the ASEAN Patent Analytics Project, which showcases local innovations such as MyB Prosthetic Limb Technology on a global stage. Malaysia will also play an active role in the ASEAN Lab2Market Project to drive the commercialization of university innovations and the ASEAN IP Financing Project, which develops methodologies and intellectual property-based financing instruments in collaboration with financial institutions.
The Ministry believes that this strategic cooperation will be a crucial catalyst in positioning Malaysia as a proactive nation in intellectual property empowerment, aligning with the Malaysia MADANI aspiration to drive a sustainable knowledge and innovation-based economy.