In just over a decade, the value of Malaysia’s high-technology exports has risen from US$55.6 billion in 2009 to US$108.7 billion in 2021. According to the World Bank, high-tech exports accounted for more than half (53.82%) of Malaysia’s exports in 2020.  

More recently, the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) announced that Malaysia’s machinery and equipment (M&E) exports reached RM34.4 billion (US$7.6 billion) through the first seven months of 2022, an increase of 25.5% from the same period in 2021, giving the country rising exports in both high-tech and lower-tech manufacturing. 

MATRADE deputy chief executive officer (export acceleration) Sharimahton Mat Saleh said M&E is an important industry to Malaysia and the seventh-largest export sector, with a value of RM49.9 billion (US$11 billion), making up 4 percent of Malaysia’s total exports in 2021, according to The Edge Malaysia. 

“M&E has recorded double-digit growth by 26.6% in 2021 with the value of RM39.5 billion (US$8.7 billion) in 2020, exporting to markets such as Singapore, United States, China, Indonesia and Thailand. Machines and apparatus used principally for manufacturing semiconductors, parts, and accessories are the largest export segment, valued at RM8.8 billion (US$1.94 billion) or 17.5% of total M&E exports in 2021,” she said. 

“The growth of M&E is expected to even continue and grow further,” she said at the launch of METAHOVER, a product of the RM1 billion (US$220.5 million) joint venture collaboration between Metalmach Micro Technology (MMT) and its auxiliary materials partner from China, Future Hover Industrial. 

The collaboration is aimed at obtaining up to RM1 billion annually in export revenue in the next 10 years, with the establishment of a factory in Malaysia, leading to the creation of over 500 job opportunities, The Edge reported. 

All of this suggests that Malaysian industry will continue to invest heavily in tech, R&D and patent protection spending, which in turn will keep the country’s IP lawyers busy into the foreseeable future.  

With this continuing interest in intellectual property protection in Malaysia, we turned to IP professionals in the region in order to understand better what clients need today. Asia IP asked a large number of professionals – mostly in-house counsel and corporate legal managers – what they were looking for from their legal service providers. From their answers, we have compiled our list of 50 Malaysian IP Experts, those lawyers who understand just what their clients need and are able to provide them with the best practical advice.  

Today’s clients are looking for more than just a degree from a top-notch university and a couple of decades of practice. In order to be an outstanding provider of intellectual property advice, a lawyer must also be capable of understanding how intellectual property impacts the rest of his client’s business, and be able to provide practical, real-world, business-savvy advice. She must be able to provide sound advice on the current law, but also needs to be able to understand coming trends which are likely to impact her client’s business. 

Unlike days past when she might have played just a bit role, today’s IP Expert is every bit a full-fledged team member. 

While two powerhouse firms employ 10 of the lawyers on our list, the rest of the list reflects a growing diversity of practices in Kuala Lumpur, with lawyers from a number of young and relatively young firms receiving recognition as IP Experts.  

Not surprisingly, Shearn Delamore & Co. (Karen Abraham, Michelle C.Y. Loi, Jyeshta Mahendran and Indran Shanmuganathan) and Skrine (Leela Devi Baskaran, Pei Yee Kuek, Melissa Long, Charmayne Ong and Grace Teoh) each placed five lawyers on the list.  

Henry Goh & Co. (Yen Yen Oon, Sau Yin Tham and Dave A. Wyatt) and Zaid Ibrahim & Co. (Boo Seng Ong, Siew Ling Su and Linda Wang) each placed three lawyers on the list. All in all, 25 different firms account for either one or two lawyers on the list.  

Most of the lawyers named to our list have multiple practice specialties. Many of them are litigators, while others concentrate on prosecution work or provide strategic advice.  

All of them have something in common: they are experts in their fields and, in one way or another, they provide extra value for their clients. They are Asia IP’s Malaysia’s IP Experts. 

– GREGORY GLASS 

Malaysia’s IP Experts is based solely on independent editorial research conducted by Asia IP. As part of this project, we turned to in-house counsel in Malaysia, Asia and elsewhere around the world, as well as Southeast Asia-focused partners at international law firms, and asked them to nominate private-practice lawyers including foreign legal consultants, advisers and counsel.  

The final list reflects the nominations received combined with the input of editorial team at Asia IP, which has nearly 45 years of collective experience in researching and understanding Malaysia’s legal market. 

All private practice intellectual property lawyers in Malaysia were eligible for inclusion in the nominations process; there were no fees or any other requirements for inclusion in the process. 

The names of our 50 IP Experts are published here. Each IP Expert was given the opportunity to include their biography and contact details in print and on our website, for which a fee was charged.