INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CORPORATION OF MALAYSIA ACT 2002

This Act comes into operation on a date to be appointed by the Minister, by notification in the Gazette, and the Minister may appoint different dates for different provisions of this Act.

Interpretation

The Corporation shall have perpetual succession and a common seal.

The Corporation may sue and be sued in its name.

Subject to and for the purposes of this Act, the Corporation may, upon such terms as the Corporation deems fit—

Every property vested by virtue of subsection (1) in the

Corporation shall be so vested in the Corporation for the like title, estate or interest and on the like tenure as the property was vested or held immediately before the vesting date.

Every chose-in-action vested by virtue of subsection (1) in the Corporation may, on and after the vesting date, be sued on, recovered or enforced by the Corporation in its own name and it shall not be necessary for the Corporation, the Government of

Malaysia, the Registrar or the Controller to give notice to the person bound by the chose-in-action of the vesting effected under subsection (1).

Every right or liability vested by virtue of subsection (1)

in the Corporation may, on and after the vesting date, be sued on, recovered or enforced by or against the Corporation in its own name and it shall not be necessary for the Corporation, the

Government of Malaysia, the Registrar or the Controller to give notice to the person whose right or liability is affected by the vesting effected under subsection (1).

Any pending legal proceedings by or against the Government of Malaysia, the Registrar or the Controller which relate to any property, right or liability transferred to and vested in the

Corporation by virtue of subsection (1) may, on and after the vesting date, be continued by or against the Corporation.

In the case of rights or liabilities arising under any loans which is vested in the Corporation on the vesting date, the

Corporation may enter into such arrangements or agreements over such rights and liabilities with the Government of Malaysia or any other third party.

On and after the vesting date, any agreement relating to any property, rights and liabilities transferred to and vested in the Corporation under subsection (1) to which the Government of

Malaysia, the Registrar or the Controller was a party immediately before the vesting date, whether in writing or not, and whether or not of such a nature that rights and liabilities thereunder could be assigned by the Government of Malaysia, the Registrar or the

Controller shall have effect as if the Corporation has been a party to the agreement.

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Common seal

Until a seal is provided by the Corporation, a stamp bearing the words “The Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia”

may be used and shall be deemed to be the common seal of the

Corporation.

The common seal shall be kept in the custody of the

Chairman or any other person authorized by the Corporation and shall be authenticated by either the Chairman or by such authorized person or by any officer authorized by the Chairman in writing.

All deeds, documents and other instruments purporting to be sealed with the common seal and authenticated in accordance with subsection (3) shall, until the contrary is proved, be deemed to have been validly executed.

Notwithstanding subsection (4), any document or instrument which, if executed by a person who is not a body corporate, is not required to be under seal may in like manner be executed by the Corporation; and any such document or instrument may be executed on behalf of the Corporation by any member, employee or agent of the Corporation generally or specially authorized by the Corporation in that behalf.

The common seal of the Corporation shall be officially and judicially noticed.

Membership of the Corporation

a Chairman;

four members representing the Government, one of whom shall be the Secretary General of the Ministry for the time being charged with the responsibility for intellectual property or his representative;

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three other members who have relevant knowledge or experience in intellectual property and intellectual property related matters; and

the Director General.

The Minister shall appoint the members specified in paragraphs (1)(a), (b) and (c).

Terms of office

The appointment of any member of the Corporation appointed by the Minister, except the Secretary General of the Ministry for the time being charged with the responsibility for intellectual property, may, at any time, be revoked by the Minister without assigning any reason for the revocation.

Vacation of office

if he dies;

if he becomes a bankrupt;

if he has been convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for a term not less than two months;

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if he is of unsound mind or is otherwise incapable of performing his duties; or

if he absents himself from three consecutive meetings of the Corporation without the leave of the Chairman, or in the case of the Chairman, without the leave of the

Minister.

Remuneration and allowances

Every member of the Corporation shall be paid allowances at such rates as the Minister may determine.

The Director General and Deputies Director General

a suitable person who has knowledge or experience in intellectual property or intellectual property related matters to be the Director General; and

such number of persons as may be necessary to be the

Deputies Director General, on such terms and conditions as the Minister may determine, for the proper administration of this Act and the Intellectual Property

Legislation, and may revoke the appointment of any person so appointed without assigning any reason for the revocation.

The Director General shall be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Corporation.

The Deputies Director General shall be subject to the direction and control of the Director General and they may perform all the duties of the Director General under this Act and the Intellectual Property Legislation as may be specified by the

Director General.

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In the event that the Director General is temporarily unable to perform his duties due to illness or any other cause, either of the Deputies Director General may attend any meeting of the

Corporation or any committee in his place.

Meetings

Five members of the Corporation, one of whom is a member representing the Government, shall form the quorum of a meeting of the Corporation.

If on a question to be determined by the Corporation there is an equality of votes, the Chairman shall have a casting vote.

In the event of the Chairman being absent or unable to act due to illness or any other cause, any member of the Corporation other than the Director General may be elected by the members present to preside over the meeting.

The Minister shall, in respect of each member of the

Corporation who represents the Government, appoint an alternate member who may attend any meeting of the Corporation which the member is for any reason whatsoever unable to attend and the alternate member, when so attending, shall for all purposes be deemed to be a member of the Corporation.

Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Corporation shall determine its own procedure.

The Corporation may invite others to meetings

Any person invited to any meeting or deliberation of the

Corporation under subsection (1) may be paid such remuneration or allowance as the Minister may determine.

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Power of Minister to give directions and require information

The Corporation shall furnish the Minister with such returns, accounts and information with respect to the performance of any of its functions under this Act or the Intellectual Property

Legislation as the Minister may, from time to time, require or direct.

Disclosure of interest

A disclosure under subsection (1) shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting of the Corporation or committee, as the case may be, in which the matter is discussed and, after the disclosure, the member—

Any member of the Corporation or committee who fails to disclose his interest as provided under subsection (1) commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to both.

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No act or proceeding of the Corporation or committee shall be invalidated on the ground that any member of the Corporation or committee has contravened the provisions of this section.

For the purpose of this section—

Any minutes made of meetings of the Corporation or a committee, if duly signed, shall, in any proceedings, be admissible as prima facie evidence of the facts stated in the minutes without further proof.

Every meeting of the Corporation or a committee of which minutes have been made in accordance with subsections (1) and (2)

shall be deemed to have been duly convened and held and all members at the meeting to have been duly qualified to act.

to ensure that the provisions of this Act and the Intellectual

Property Legislation are administered, enforced, given effect to, carried out and complied with;

to act as agent of the Government and to provide services in administering, collecting and enforcing payment of prescribed fees or any other charges under the Intellectual

Property Legislation;

to regulate and supervise issues or matters relating to intellectual property in relation to the Intellectual Property

Legislation;

to advise on the review and updating of the Intellectual

Property Legislation;

to encourage and promote the training and the diffusion of knowledge and information on intellectual property;

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to hold, encourage and provide co-operation programme at national or international level on intellectual property issues or matters;

to safeguard the interest of Malaysia in respect of any agreement or international convention to which Malaysia is a party, and shall to the extent necessary give effect to any provision of such agreement or convention;

to advise the Government on developments at international level on issues or matters relating to intellectual property;

to carry out research and to commission studies on issues or matters relating to intellectual property;

to advise the Minister generally on issues or matters relating to intellectual property; and

to carry out such activities and do such things as are necessary or advantageous and proper for the administration of the Corporation, or for such other purposes, consistent with this Act, as may be directed by the Minister.

Powers of the Corporation

Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the powers of the Corporation shall include power—

The Corporation shall have all such powers as may be necessary for or in connection with, or reasonably incidental to, the performance of its functions and the exercise of its powers under the Intellectual Property Legislation.

For the avoidance of doubt it is declared that the powers of the Corporation shall not include the powers of the Director

General under the Intellectual Property Legislation.

The Corporation may establish committees

Members of a committee established under subsection (1)

may be appointed from amongst members of the Corporation or such other persons as the Corporation thinks fit.

The Corporation may revoke the appointment of any member of a committee without assigning any reason for the revocation.

A member of a committee may resign by giving notice in writing to the Chairman.

A committee established under this section may elect any of its members to be chairman and may regulate its own procedure, and in the exercise of its powers such committee shall be subject to and act in accordance with any direction given to the committee by the Corporation.

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The members of a committee or any person invited to attend any meeting of a committee may be paid such allowances and other expenses as the Corporation may determine.

Meetings of a committee shall be held at such times and places as the chairman of the committee may, subject to subsection (5), determine.

Delegation of the Corporation’s functions or powers

Any function or powers delegated under this section—

A delegation under this section shall not preclude the

Corporation itself from performing or exercising at any time any of the functions or powers so delegated.

Every such person who opts under subsection (1) to serve as an employee of the Corporation shall be employed by the

Corporation on terms and conditions of service not less favourable than the terms and conditions of service to which he was entitled to immediately before the appointed date.

Until such time as the terms and conditions of service of its employees are drawn up by the Corporation, the scheme and terms and conditions of service of employees of the Government shall continue to apply to every person employed by the Corporation under subsection (1).

The Minister may by order make such modifications as may be necessary to the scheme and terms and conditions referred to in subsection (3) for the purpose of removing any difficulties as a consequence of the provisions of that subsection.

Salaries, terms and conditions of service of Government employees to be taken into account

Where any person in the service of the Corporation whose case does not fall within the scope of any pension or other schemes established under this section retires or dies whilst in the service of the Corporation or is discharged from such service, the

Corporation may grant to him or to such other person or persons wholly or partly dependent on him, as the Corporation thinks fit, such allowance or gratuity as the Corporation may determine.

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Appointment of other employees, agents and consultants

The Corporation may appoint and employ consultants and agents to transact any business or to do any act required to be transacted or done in the execution of its functions or for the better carrying into effect the purposes of this Act.

Regulations with respect to employment

The regulations made under this section may include provisions for—

An order, ruling or direction made or given by a disciplinary authority of the Corporation pursuant to this section shall in respect of such employee have the same force and effect as an order, ruling or direction made or given by the Disciplinary

Authority, Disciplinary Board or Disciplinary Appeal Board, as the case may be, under the laws referred to in subsection (1).

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The Minister may by order make such modifications to the laws referred to in subsection (1) in their application to such employee as may be necessary for the purpose of removing difficulties as a consequence of the provisions of that subsection.

Protection from personal liability

The Fund shall consist of—

paying any expenditure lawfully incurred by the Corporation, including legal fees and costs and other fees and costs, and the remuneration of employees of the Corporation, including the granting of loans, superannuation allowances, pensions or gratuities;

paying any other expenses, costs or expenditure properly incurred or accepted by the Corporation in the performance of its functions or the exercise of its powers under this

Act;

purchasing or hiring equipment, machinery and materials, acquiring land and erecting buildings, and carrying out any other works and undertakings in the performance of its functions or the exercise of its powers under this

Act;

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repaying any moneys borrowed under this Act and the interest due on such moneys; and

generally, paying any expenses for carrying into effect the provisions of this Act.

Expenditure and preparation of estimates

Before the beginning of each financial year, an estimate of the expenditure for the following financial year in such form and containing such particulars as the Minister may direct shall be submitted by the Corporation to the Minister for his approval, and the Minister shall, before the beginning of that following financial year, notify the Corporation of the amount authorized for expenditure generally or of the amounts authorized for each description of expenditure.

The Corporation may, at any time, submit to the Minister a supplementary estimate for any one financial year and the Minister may allow the whole or any part of the additional expenditure included in the supplementary estimate.

Conservation of the Fund

The Corporation may, from time to time, with the prior approval of the Minister and the Minister of Finance, borrow money by the issue of bonds, debenture, debenture stocks or such other securities upon such terms as it deems expedient for meeting any of its obligations or performing any of its functions under this Act.

Investment

Any person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to both.

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Power of Minister to amend the First and Second Schedules