Update on Patent Practice in Myanmar: Patent Applications Accepted starting from 31 October 2024

06 Nov 2024

Key Developments in Myanmar’s Patent Law
Myanmar has passed the long-anticipated Myanmar Patent Law in 2019 which came into effect on 31 May 2024. We are pleased to inform you that the Myanmar Department of Intellectual Property has started accepting patent applications from 31 October 2024.

Patent Application Procedure
Under Myanmar’s patent system, patent applications can be submitted in either English or the Myanmar language. Below are the key documents to submit for a complete patent application:

• Application Form.
• Representative Appointment Form.
• Priority Document (if priority is claimed).

Priority Claim
Although Myanmar is not a member of the Paris Convention, priority can be claimed to an application filed in a member state of the Paris Convention or the World Trade Organization. The priority period is 12 months.
It is to be noted that Myanmar is not a contracting state of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Patentable Subject Matter
The Myanmar Patent Law provides broad coverage, yet it provides exclusions to align with public policy and ethical standards:
(a) The following inventions are non-patentable inventions:
(i) discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods;
(ii) schemes, rules and regulations or methods relating to conducting business, performing purely mental acts or playing games;
(iii) computer programs per se;
(iv) essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals other than non-biological and microbiological processes;
(v) plants and animals, including animal races and plant varieties and including the whole or part of natural living beings and biological materials found in nature other than artificially created microorganisms, DNA (including complementary DNA sequences), cells, cell lines, cell cultures and seeds;
(vi) methods for treatment of the human or animal body by surgery or therapy, and diagnostic methods practised on human or animal body;
(vii) inventions in relation to the natural substances, known substances including new uses and new forms of known substances or chemical products prescribed from time to time;
(viii) inventions which are seriously prejudicial to public order or morality, human beings, animals or plants, health or the natural environment, and inventions for which exploitation is prohibited by any existing law within the territory of the State.

(b) Pharmaceutical products or processes are non-patentable inventions until 1 January 2033 unless specified otherwise by the Union Government according to the policy of Trade-Related Aspect of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Council under World Trade Organization (WTO).

(c) The following are non-patentable inventions for protection relating to the patent until 1 July 2021**  unless specified otherwise by the Union Government according to the policy of TRIPS Council under WTO:
(i) agricultural chemical products;
(ii) food products;
(iii) microorganisms.

It is to be noted that the Myanmar Patent Law provides that the Union Government may amend the terms of non-patentable matter mentioned in subsections (b) and (c) with the approval of TRIPS Council under WTO.
Applicants should consider the above exclusions carefully to determine the eligibility of their inventions.

**While the date mentioned in subsection (c) has lapsed, the Myanmar Intellectual Property Department (IPD) or the Ministry of Commerce has not yet expressly announced any lifting of the exclusions for these inventions.
 
Types of Patent Protection Available
Myanmar offers two primary types of IP protection:

1. Patents: Provides protection for a term of 20 years from the filing date.
2. Utility models (i.e. petty patents): Provides protection for a term of 10 years from the filing date.