Myanmar

Yuwadee Thean-ngarm of Tilleke & Gibbins explains how Myanmar’s Intellectual Property Department has worked to clarify uncertainty over series marks as the country aims to overhaul its IP system

On August 28 2020, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced that the "soft-opening period" to refile trademarks under the country's new Trademark Act would begin on October 1 2020. This period, which is open to holders of trademarks recorded under Myanmar's old system and to trademark owners who can prove prior use of their trademarks in the country, is expected to run for six months, though no closing date was stipulated in the MOC announcement. The date of the eventual "grand opening" of the Intellectual Property Department (IPD) will be the filing date for all applications submitted during the soft-opening period.

The Myanmar Customs Department (MCD) organised another Intellectual Property Awareness and Product Identification Workshop at its Customs Training School in Yangon on August 6 2020, for its frontline customs officers. Such workshops are held several times every year, serving as a platform for foreign brand owners and their local representatives to educate and update the enforcement officers on methods for differentiating their genuine products from counterfeits and imitations when inspecting suspicious shipments at ports of entry into the country. The training sessions are also useful in encouraging collaborative discourse between the private and public sectors to improve the efficiency of their joint intellectual property rights enforcement efforts.

Almost a year and a half after Myanmar enacted the Trademark Law 2019 on January 30 2019, the same question still lingers in the minds of many brand owners and attorneys: "When will the Trademark Law come into force?"