Myanmar has finally enacted its long-awaited Industrial Design Law on January 30, 2019. A summary of the provisions of the new Industrial Designs is provided below:
The Industrial Design Law imposes a universal novelty threshold which must be met for industrial designs to be registrable. Registered industrial designs will be protected for an initial term of five years, calculated from the application date. Two further renewal terms of five years each can be filed. Applications for multiple designs can be filed for protection under a single application if these designs fall under the same Locarno class. If two or more parties apply to register identical or similar designs on the same day, the Registrar will instruct the applicants to negotiate amongst themselves before intervening.
Importantly, the law addresses the rights to designs created in the course of employment, allowing employees to claim the rights to such designs if an employer fails to file an application within six months from the date of written notification from the employee.
