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PATENT REGISTRATION PROCEDURE
IN MYANMAR

Myanmar's Patent Law 2019, the country's first dedicated patent legislation, is administered by the Directorate of Patents under the Ministry of Commerce. Key features include:

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  • Protection: Covers patents (20 years) and petty patents (10 years).

  • Requirements: Patents need novelty, inventive step, and industrial applicability; petty patents exempt from inventive step.

  • Filing: Allowed in English and Burmese with translations if required.

  • Paris Convention: Priority claims accepted.

  • Process: Applications published after 18 months, with substantive examination within 36 months upon request.

  • Pharmaceuticals: Excluded from protection until 2033 per least developed country exemptions.

Currently, patents in Myanmar are registered under Section 18(f) of the Registry Act by filing a declaration of ownership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation. There is no formal test, opposition process, or patent journal publication. To protect patent rights and prevent infringement, Cautionary Notices are recommended but not mandatory.

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Renewal: Patents must be re-registered every three years through a declaration or republishing in local newspapers.

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Myanmar is a member of WIPO, WTO, and a signatory to the TRIPS Agreement, aiming to comply by 2021. Efforts to establish a comprehensive Patent Law began in 2004, but the draft remains under review.

Patent applications can be filed in English or Myanmar language, but the registrar may request the submission of a certified translation in either language. Applications should contain:

  1. The request for grant of a patent;

  2. The applicants’ names, nationalities or countries of incorporation, and addresses;

  3. The inventors’ names, nationalities, and addresses;

  4. The representative or agent’s name, national registration card number, and address;

  5. Patent specifications and drawings;

  6. One or more patent claims;

  7. Priority documents, if applicable; and

  8. The request for early publication, if applicable.

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