Malaysia to consult on IP rights

Malaysia is planning to consult with tobacco companies about their intellectual property rights before considering introducing legislation requiring that tobacco products are sold in standardized packs, according to a story by Mayuri Mei Lin for the Malay Mail, relayed by the TMA.

The Minister of Health Datuk S. Subramaniam was quoted as saying that “we want to continue in the direction of plain packaging,” in line with the country’s obligation to the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

But he said the government would not implement the measure until it had concluded negotiations with tobacco companies to ensure that the proposal did not infringe on their intellectual property rights.

“This is being discussed so that the efforts of the government, for the health of the public, will not be seen by the industry as an infringement on their intellectual property rights and after this issue can be resolved, the government will continue with our efforts to carry that out,” he said.