Myanmar Industrial Design Rights Law and Copyright Law in force from 31 October 2023

30 October 2023

On 19 October 2023, the Myanmar State Administration Council issued Notifications No. 217 and 218 of 2023 which announce the coming into force on 31 October 2023 of the Industrial Design Rights Law and the Copyright Law.

Notification No. 217 of 2023 follows the issuance of Notification No. 67 of 2023 on 29 September 2023 which sets out the procedure for the filing and registration of industrial designs with Myanmar’s Intellectual Property Department. The rules supplement the Industrial Design Rights Law which was enacted in 2019.

The Copyright Law provides for a system of voluntary registration to facilitate proof of ownership, although the procedures to enable such a system have not been issued. In the meantime, from 31 October 2023, local literary and artistic works and foreign literary and artistic works published in Myanmar within 30 days after their publication elsewhere will be protected. Computer programmes are also protected as literary and artistic works, as are other works set out in the Copyright Law despite the stipulated registration system not being operational as yet.