Page 44 - NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH (NIH) GUIDELINES FOR CONDUCTING RESEARCH IN MINISTRY OF HEALTH (MOH) INSTITUTIONS & FACILITIES 3RD EDITION 2021

12. Intellectual Property (IP) and Commercialisation

12.1. Types of IP

i. IP is the legal rights resulting from intellectual activities including research and
development where it aims to protect the ownership of intellectual goods and services.
ii. There are five (5) types of intellectual properties that may result from research activities.
They are:
a. Trademark - words, designs, and other markings that identify and distinguish a
specific product from other products.
b. Patent - new and novel inventions (product, technology and/or process).
c. Industrial design - two-dimensional or three-dimensional appearance or
ornamental shape of an item or product.
d. Copyright - literary works including computer programmes and artistic works
such as photographs, drawings, and models.
e. Trade secret - confidential information including formulas, formulation,
knowhow, and computer source code.
iii. Trademark, patent, and industrial patent require formal registration to protect the legal
IP rights while copyright requires only voluntary notification. On the other hand, trade
secrets are protected by restricting access to the documents and non-disclosure
agreements.

12.2. IP Review for Worthiness and Marketability

i. NIH investigators are required to send applications to file an IP for any potential
products/process/logo and others to the Collaboration and Innovation Unit, NIH.
ii. IP Review Committee in NIH will review for any potential research outputs for its
worthiness, urgency, and marketability before deciding to approve for IP registration
process.
iii. NIH investigators should fill up an IP Review Form whereby this form is in a Likert
scale format in which an application will be reviewed in terms of potential marketability,
urgency, and demand value by users or customers (Appendix 18).
iv. MOH investigators (other than NIH) may contact their relevant unit or department
in each organisation for any internal procedures to file intellectual properties of any
potential products.
v. Once approved, the investigators may proceed to register the patent, trademark or
industrial designs with the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO).
Further information can be obtained at https://www.myipo.gov.my/en/home/ [37].
vi. For the IP registration process, the registration process needs to be facilitated by IP
companies and hence act as IP agents to conduct patent professional search and all
subsequent processes until the patent rights are granted. The process can be lengthy
and time consuming depending on the requirements of the patent as well as the location
of the patent right.
vii. Patent maintenance requires annual patent renewal cost, which can be very costly
when it involves overseas patent rights. The annual patent renewal cost normally will be
funded by the respective department or organisation.

28 NIH Guidelines for Conducting Research in MOH, 2021