Intellectual Property Services in Myanmar

Myanmar is in the middle of a democratic and economic transition; the country is moving from a centrally-directed economy to a market-oriented one. Both domestically and regionally high hopes are attached to this transition. The Myanmar people are anticipating that the wide-ranging economic reforms will increase their economic opportunities and raise their living standards.

The Myanmar government is creating reforms, policies and laws for attracting international businesses and companies to set up their operations in the country to boost the economic growth while developing the business ecosystem. The strategy of the government is to allow international players to enter the Myanmar market and offer world-class products & services. The vision is to create a vibrant business environment where local and international players co-exist, operate and partner to develop the infrastructure while ramping up export-oriented growth.

Although the market is in its nascent stages, Myanmar has a vastly untapped market potential that international businesses can take advantage of the country's latest laws to start their operations in the country.  Despite the fact that it is difficult for foreign enterprises to navigate in a new environment, business ecosystem and market with a considerably different culture you have various ways to overcome this problem. As a business owner or entrepreneur, you can leverage the benefit offered by the various company structures that allow the owners to start a Representative Office or form a Joint Venture (JV) to understanding the ground scenario better.

Types of Businesses that you can Start in Myanmar

1.Representative Office

Representative Office structure allows you to set up an office for performing market research, promotion and analysing the business scenario according to their industry in Myanmar. This setup allows them the opportunity to know the competitors, business partners and future prospects for their operations in the country.

2.Branch Office

The Branch Office gives you the chance to scale up your operations in Myanmar. As a well-established business elsewhere in the world the branch office gives you the first step into the market allowing you to understand the business culture, ecosystem and challenges that you might face while expanding your business operations in Myanmar.

3.Limited Liability Company

The LLC in Myanmar is one of the popular ways to start your business operations. This legal entity offers you numerous business possibilities by allowing you to operate the company in numerous ways. An LLC gives you the power to restructure your business according to your requirements as this legal entity is highly flexible and permits the directors, investors to tailor it according to their requirements. One of the notable features of this legal business entity is that the directors, investors and shareholders are responsible of the assets and liabilities of the legal company structure only to the extent of their shared capital which reduces the risk factor making it easier to attract investment capital from various sources.

4.Joint Venture

A joint venture in Myanmar allows you to create a business entity with two or more organisations from different countries from the same or diverse industry to undertake a specific goal or task. The companies or businesses or individuals can form a joint venture by pooling their resources, expertise, and domain

What is Intellectual Property?

The Intellectual Property (IP) comprises ideas, logos, literary works, inventions, names of services, products or companies, or processes related to the computer, business or chemical, and much more. We help you safeguard any intellectual property related to your business or company or brand.

Types of Intellectual Property

  • Industrial Property
  • Patents for inventions (i.e., products, research, technical solution)
  • industrial Designs (i.e., machine designs, computer algorithms, industrial platform)
  • Geographical Indication
  • Copyrights for literary works (i.e., art, architecture, paintings, poems, plays, films, recordings, music etc.)
  • Trademarks (i.e., brand names, symbols, colours, shapes that are used to identify a company, product, brand or services uniquely)

How Intellectual Property Helps Businesses?

Intellectual property (IP) is an original product of human intelligence through innovation, creativity and/or mental Labour that has some market value, and therefore warrants protection under the law. IP is usually non-material, for instance, ideas, logos, literary works, inventions, and names of services, products or companies. The owners of these intangible properties have exclusivity on those and can manufacture or use it mostly in any way if they are protected through appropriate IP rights.

Intellectual Property Rights give the rightful designers, owners or creators of the property the right to claim ownership, secure royalties, sell the intellectual property ownership or use the IP to design, develop or create new products, services or conduct research with the intangible property as the base. Furthermore, the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) secures the owner's Intellectual property by protecting and preventing it from imitation, copyright infringement

Intellectual Property Laws in Myanmar

With the objective to encourage business growth in a country, revamping the intellectual property rights with effective laws are one of the crucial aspects to be focused by the government. Consecutively after the major reforms in 2011, the government has been consistently designing and implementing trademark protection laws, IP rights and licenses to secure the innovation and trade secrets of the companies operating in Myanmar.

An efficient and equitable intellectual property system can help the country realise intellectual property’s potential as a catalyst for economic development and social and cultural well-being. Myanmar has progressed a long way from having a poor track record of IP rights to structuring and implementing effective IP laws, regulations and compliances in accordance with the international intellectual property laws and treaties.

Myanmar has started to pave the way towards establishing a robust system for protecting Intellectual property rights. The development of effective IP laws has encouraged businesses to operate in the country with an added protection that is given on their innovation, trademarks, and other intellectual property. The intellectual property system helps strike a balance between the interests of innovators and the public interest, providing an environment in which creativity and invention can flourish, for the benefit of all.

Benefits of Intellectual Property Protection

  • Registering intellectual property adds great value to business authenticity. By filing an IP, a businessman gets the legal right to ownership of the IP and the power to prevent others from using the IP without permission
  • An IP enables a company to protect one’s market share by preventing impostors from stealing the same concept or idea
  • The IP can be licensed to third parties for commercial returns
  • The IP can be sold for an amount or even used to raise equity for the business

Intellectual Property Infrastructure in Myanmar

Legislation

  • Industrial Design Law (Patent and Design (Emergency Provisions) Act, Specific Relief Act)
  • Trademark Law (Penal Code, Merchandise Marks Act, Specific Relief Act, Sea Customs Act, Registration Act)
  • Patent Law (Patent and Design (Emergency Provisions) Act, Specific Relief Act)
  • Copyright Law (Specific Relief Act, Television and Video Law, Motion Picture Law)
  • Other related laws

Implementation

  • Intellectual Property Office of Myanmar
  • Intellectual Property Courts
  • Customs
  • Police Force

IP Environment

  • IP Attorneys
  • IP Organisations
  • CMO
  • Technology
  • Transfer Office
  • TISC

Our Offerings

We can help you with patents, trademark and copyright in Myanmar.

●Patent

A patent is an exclusive right to use and exploit your invention for strategic and commercial gain. We assist you with drafting provisional patent specifications as per international standards, patent journal watch services, patent renewal, and portfolio management.

●Trademark

A trademark is a symbol which differentiates a company from others, like a logo or brand name. We provide specialised services like trademark searching, filing trademark applications, and advising on trademark selection, trademark journal watch services, renewal, and portfolio management.

Trademark registration in Myanmar takes place in accordance with the Registration Act Direction No. 13 of the Inspector General of Registration. It can be registered in the form of a word, image or logo consisting of one or more colours, with the Office of Registrar of Deeds and Assurances through a Declaration of Ownership of Trademark in the name of an individual or business organisation.

Copyright

Copyright is meant for authors of books, paintings, photographs, radio/television programme and software, and exists in order to fight copying of videotapes, audiotapes, artistic work and computer software. We can help you with copyright protection advice and strategy, filing copyright applications, post-registration services, copyright renewal, and portfolio management.

Who We Are

Business Setup Worldwide is a platform to help you start your company. We facilitate the setup of your business through services like incorporation, registration and licensing.

We specialise in business-oriented support activities, in the face of the ever-changing global executive environment. We place your business objectives at the centre of our operations and take pride in our ability to adapt to the market and devise innovative strategies to aid firms with their vision.

Business Setup Worldwide's proprietary business design techniques, combined with its specialised industry knowledge and global reach, enable companies to anticipate changes in customer priorities and the competitive environment, and then design their businesses and improve operations to seize opportunities created by those changes.

Why Us?

Our IP consultants at Business Setup Worldwide have extensive experience helping clients in establishing intellectual property acquisition programs customised to suit their current and projected needs, and in developing creative strategies for utilising patents to add value to our client portfolio, hone their competitiveness, and facilitate their freedom of action. Our team comprises intellectual property lawyers and trademark registration consultants, to promote the IP protection process for you, aimed at attaining business objectives and maintaining market position.