The “soft launch” of the new trademark registration system in Myanmar remains pending, and the launch date remains uncertain. “The ‘soft launch’ of the new trademark system was scheduled to commence in January earlier this year. Now, we have been informed the matter is still under consideration by the government,” said Andy Leck, head of IP at Baker McKenzie in Singapore.

“We are hopeful that there may be developments regarding this by the upcoming elections in November,” Leck said. “We will continue to monitor developments surrounding this and issue updates as they come.”

Trademark registration by way of Declarations of Ownership remains available despite the Covid-19 measures being implemented in Myanmar, although certain restrictions are in place. “Particularly, the Office of Registration of Deeds is unable to accommodate applicants coming from certain townships that are currently under ‘stay-at-home’ orders,” said Andre Gan, managing partner at the firm in Kuala Lumpur. “Further, we anticipate some delays with international courier services due to the limited availability of flights to and from Myanmar.”

The postponement of the “soft launch” of the new trademark system has raised the issue of marks that are due for renewal in 2020. “As background, it has become customary in Myanmar to renew marks every three years. This renewal process typically involves the registration of fresh Declarations of Ownership and the option to re-publish a Cautionary Notice. It should be noted that these are not statutory renewal requirements, but rather customary measures intended to demonstrate a deliberate assertion of ownership over a mark,” said Anthony Chadd Ramos Concepcion, senior associate at the firm in Yangon.

The supposed “soft launch” of the new trademark registration system last January was supposed to replace the practice of renewing trademarks by way of a fresh Declaration of Ownership as trademark registration would have already transitioned into the new system by the start of the year, Concepcion said. “Now that the ‘soft launch’ has been delayed, the question now arises on what should be done for marks whose three-year renewal cycle falls in 2020.”

“Having assessed the current situation both concerning the delay of the ‘soft launch’ and the further impact of Covid-19, our recommendation is for clients to proceed with the renewal and maintenance of marks in 2020 as scheduled,” he said. “This is to ensure the maintenance of marks as per the prevailing trademark practice in Myanmar, and this provides the best scope of trademark protection currently available.”

He reminded that trademark registrations in Myanmar are not subject to a statutory renewal period, and do not technically lapse after three years (although it has been customary to renew every three years).

Johnny Chan