KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 —  The Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO) has called on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to immediately register their intellectual property to prevent them from being exploited by irresponsible parties.

Its director-general, Datuk Shamsiah Kamaruddin, said many SMEs in the country were still unaware of the importance of registering intellectual property.

“Our goal is to expose these groups (SMEs) on the importance of protecting intellectual property such as trademarks, patents, industrial designs, geographical indications (GIs) and their copyrights, so that they cannot be easily copied by others.

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“Among the reasons SME entrepreneurs do not pursue intellectual property protection is due to lack of knowledge about their product’s intellectual property rights, as well as having the impression that the intellectual property protection process is complicated and costly,” he told reporters after attending the MyIPO monthly assembly and the Merdeka Month Celebration here, yesterday.

Shamsiah said MyIPO had been collaborating with various government agencies such as Bumiputera Agenda Steering Unit (TERAJU) and Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) to increase awareness and educate entrepreneurs. — Bernama