KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 — The Dewan Negara today passed three more bills, namely the Patent (Amendment) Bill 2021, the Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2021 and the Geographical Indications Bill 2021.

The bills were approved after the third reading by Deputy Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Rosol Wahid.

The Patent (Amendment) Bill 2021, among others, seeks to allow any individual, at any time, after the grant of a patent, to apply for a compulsory license for the purpose of making and producing the patented products in Malaysia without the need to obtain permission from the patent owner.

Rosol said the Patent Act 1983 (Act 291) was enacted by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) to provide protection on patents and their renewals through registration, he said adding that the validity period for patent registration is 20 years from the date of filing provided that it was renewed annually. 

Meanwhile, when tabling the Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2021 Rosol said the amendments to the act was to ensure that the copyright law provides more efficient and effective protection in line with current demands and to fulfil the needs of the business community and stakeholders.

He said the Act 322 amendment provides suitable copyright protection including implementing allowed exceptions of rights and international ratification.

The amendment is also to prepare Malaysia to join the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access To Published Works For Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired Or Otherwise Print Disabled (Marrakesh Treaty) to acknowledge the rights of visually impaired individuals to obtain works in accessible format copy as agreed by the Cabinet during its October 29 meeting.

Meanwhile, when tabling the Geographical Indications Bill 2021, Rosol said the bill had 15 sections containing 101 clauses per schedule, adding that the Geographical Indications Act 2000 (Act 602) was enacted in line with the need to protect registered or unregistered geographical indications in Malaysia, in line with the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement which was effective on January 1, 1995.

The Dewan Negara sitting resumes tomorrow. — Bernama