An industrial design registration protects the shape, configuration, pattern or ornament applied to an article — what the product looks like, judged by the eye. It costs RM480 per design filed online, plus RM200 for each view published, and runs five years from filing, extendable four more times to a maximum of 25 years. The trap is s.12: the design must be new, and unlike patent law there is no grace period for the designer's own disclosure. Launch first and you have lost it.
- Protects appearance only — shape, configuration, pattern or ornament judged by the eye, under the Industrial Designs Act 1996
- RM480 per design online (RM500 manual), plus RM200 for each view of the representation published
- Term is 5 years from filing, extendable for four further 5-year terms — 25 years maximum
- Novelty is worldwide since the Industrial Designs (Amendment) Act 2013 added 'or elsewhere' to s.12(2)(a)
- s.12(3) excuses only official exhibitions and unlawful disclosure by a third party — the designer's own launch is not excused
- Features dictated solely by function are not registrable, and neither is a method or principle of construction
- Two or more designs may go in one application if they are in the same class of the International Classification or the same set of articles (s.15)
- s.14(2) requires an applicant whose residence or principal place of business is outside Malaysia to appoint an agent in Malaysia
Who this applies to: Product businesses — furniture, packaging, consumer electronics, housewares, fashion hardware — deciding how to protect a look.
On this page
The single most expensive mistake in Malaysian product IP is launching first. A patent applicant who showed the invention last month is still fine — s.14(3) of the Patents Act 1983 gives a twelve-month grace period. A design applicant in the same position has usually already lost the right, because the Industrial Designs Act 1996 gives no equivalent.
What an industrial design covers
Features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament applied to an article by an industrial process, which in the finished article appeal to the eye and are judged by the eye. Appearance, not function, and not branding.
Not registrable: a method or principle of construction; designs whose appearance depends on another article of which they form an integral part; designs differing only in immaterial details; and features dictated solely by function. That last exclusion is where most engineering-led applications fail — if the shape had to be that shape to work, there is nothing to register.
Where it beats a trademark or a patent
| Right | Test | Typical filing cost | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Industrial design | New appearance | RM480 per design + RM200 per view | 5 years, to 25 |
| Trademark | Distinctive as a badge of origin | RM950 per class | 10 years, renewable |
| Patent | New, inventive step, industrially applicable | RM290 filing + RM1,100 examination | 20 years |
| Utility innovation | New, industrially applicable | See the patent guide | 10 years, to 20 |
A shape can eventually function as a trademark, but only once it has acquired distinctiveness — which takes years of trading and evidence. A design registration gives an enforceable right over the appearance on day one, with no distinctiveness test and no inventive-step test. For furniture, packaging forms, housewares, electronics housings and fashion hardware, it is usually the right first filing.
The fees
From MyIPO’s published schedule:
| Matter | Manual (RM) | Online (RM) |
|---|---|---|
| Application for a single design (Form ID 1) | 500 | 480 |
| Each additional design specified | 500 | 480 |
| Publication, per view of the representation | 200 | 200 |
| Extension for each further period (Form ID 2) | 800 | 780 |
| Surcharge in the grace period, per month, max 6 months | 200 | 200 |
| Restoration of a registered design (Form ID 3) | 800 | 780 |
| Record an assignment or transmission (Form ID 5) | 300 | 280 |
| Rectification or revocation (Form ID 6) | 600 | 580 |
| Amendment of an application or registration (Form ID 9) | 200 | 180 |
| Appointment or change of agent (Form ID 10) | 100 | 80 |
| Extension of time (Form ID 13) | 300 | 280 |
| Public search | 20 | 20 |
The per-view publication fee is the line most budgets miss. A design filed with six views is RM480 plus RM1,200.
The novelty rule, and the stale Act on MyIPO’s own site
Section 12(1) says a design shall not be registered unless it is new. Section 12(2)(a) says it is not new if, before the priority date, it or a design differing only in immaterial details was disclosed to the public anywhere in Malaysia or elsewhere.
Those last two words matter, and they are missing from the Act as published. The Industrial Designs Act 1996 PDF hosted on myipo.gov.my is the reprint as at 1 January 2013 and still reads “anywhere in Malaysia”. The Industrial Designs (Amendment) Act 2013 (Act A1449) inserted “or elsewhere” into s.12(2)(a), and also changed s.25(2) from two further extension terms to four — which is why the registration now runs to 25 years, and why MyIPO’s fee page carries “NEW FEE” rows for the fourth and fifth periods that the Act text does not explain. Read the hosted PDF alone and you get superseded law on both the novelty standard and the term.
Section 12(3) is the only relief, and it is narrow: a disclosure within six months before filing is disregarded if the design appeared in an official or officially recognised exhibition, or if it was disclosed by someone other than the applicant as a result of an unlawful act. Your own launch, your own catalogue, your own website and your own trade-show booth at an unofficial fair are none of those things.
Foreign applicants
Section 14(2): where the applicant’s ordinary residence or principal place of business is outside Malaysia, an agent in Malaysia must be appointed for service, and the Registrar may refuse to proceed until one is. The test is residence or principal place of business, not nationality.
Common mistakes
Filing after the product ships. There is no self-disclosure grace period. File before any public disclosure, or accept that the design right is gone.
Assuming the shape is protected because it is distinctive. Distinctiveness is a trademark concept. Design law asks only whether the appearance is new.
Registering a shape that had to be that shape. Features dictated solely by function are excluded. If the answer to “why this shape” is engineering, look at a utility innovation instead.
Budgeting for the filing fee only. Add RM200 for every view you publish, and remember that a multiple application under s.15 charges per design, not per application.
Letting the five years run out. Extension is RM780 per design per period, with only a six-month grace at RM200 per month.
What’s next
If the product is about to launch, file the design application before anything goes public — then decide at leisure whether the underlying mechanism also justifies a patent or a utility innovation.
When is a design registration better than a trademark or a patent?
When the value is in how the product looks rather than in a brand name or a technical function. A trademark protects a badge of origin and requires distinctiveness; a patent requires an inventive step and costs several thousand ringgit to prosecute. A design registration asks only whether the appearance is new. For a chair, a bottle shape, a phone case or a packaging form, it is the cheapest right that actually maps onto what you are selling.
How long does the protection last?
Five years from the filing date, extendable for four further consecutive terms of five years each, to a maximum of 25 years. Each extension is RM780 online per design. A grace period is available for a late extension at RM200 per month, capped at six months in total.
Does showing the product at a trade fair destroy novelty?
It depends on the fair. Section 12(3)(a) disregards a disclosure within the six months before filing where the design appeared in an official or officially recognised exhibition. Section 12(3)(b) disregards disclosure by someone other than the applicant resulting from an unlawful act. Neither covers an ordinary product launch, a catalogue, a website or a private showing to buyers. Malaysian design law has no general self-disclosure grace period.
Can I register several designs at once?
Yes, under s.15, provided they relate to the same class of the International Classification for Industrial Designs or to the same set or composition of articles. Each additional design in the application still carries its own RM480 fee.
The following are deliberately unstated or described only qualitatively until confirmed by a subject-matter expert:
- The Industrial Designs Act 1996 PDF hosted on myipo.gov.my is the reprint as at 1 January 2013 and does NOT include the Industrial Designs (Amendment) Act 2013 (Act A1449) — the commencement notification for A1449 could not be located; 1 July 2013 is inferred from the Industrial Designs (Amendment) Regulations 2013 [P.U. (A) 182/2013], which came into force on that date
- Confirm with MyIPO whether the Registrar conducts a substantive novelty search on an industrial design application or only a formalities check
- Confirm the current edition of the International Classification for Industrial Designs (Locarno) applied by MyIPO
Sources
- Industrial Designs Act 1996 (Act 552), reprint as at 1 January 2013 — MyIPO
- Industrial Designs (Amendment) Act 2013 (Act A1449) — MyIPO
- Industrial Design Forms and Fees — MyIPO
- Industrial Design Basic — MyIPO
- Industrial Designs (Amendment) Regulations 2013, P.U. (A) 182/2013 — Attorney General's Chambers
Change history
| Version | Date | Change | By |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01.00 | 20 Jul 2026 | Approved and published. | — |