Our Story
A practice built on careful work
Mutiara IP was established to serve Malaysian businesses, researchers, and creators who need considered intellectual property counsel — not generic legal process.
Return HomeAbout Mutiara IP
Fifteen years of IP practice in Sabah
Mutiara IP was founded in Kota Kinabalu with a straightforward purpose: to make competent intellectual property counsel accessible to the businesses and individuals who build things in Sabah and across Malaysia. For too long, IP registration and protection had been treated as an afterthought — something sorted after the fact, when problems arose.
Our founding counsel had spent a decade working through the procedural complexity of MyIPO and observing, repeatedly, how preventable disputes arose from early missteps in trademark selection, poorly drafted licensing agreements, or patents filed without adequate claim scope. Mutiara IP was established to address that pattern through careful upstream work.
Today, we work with SMEs, university technology transfer offices, independent creators, and multinational clients managing Malaysian elements of their IP portfolios. What unites the work is the same underlying approach: understand what the client has created, advise clearly on the available protections, and proceed methodically through the relevant procedure.
Our Mission
To provide IP counsel that is technically rigorous, clearly communicated, and suited to the pace at which the subject matter properly demands — so that what our clients create is protected with the same care they put into creating it.
Our Values
- Precision over speed. IP work done carefully the first time prevents disputes later.
- Transparency of process. Clients understand each step and its implications before we proceed.
- Proportionate engagement. Not every matter requires formal legal action; we advise on the range of options honestly.
Our Team
Counsel and associates
Ahmad Razif bin Hamid
Founding Counsel
Called to the Malaysian Bar with a focus on industrial property law. Lead counsel on trademark prosecution and opposition matters, with fifteen years of MyIPO practice.
Lim Yee Shan
Senior Associate
Specialises in copyright and creative industry agreements. Background in digital media law; advises software developers, graphic studios, and music producers on rights structuring.
Siti Nabilah Taib
Associate — Patent
Technical background in engineering; coordinates patent prosecution with MyIPO and with registered patent agents for specification drafting. Advises university R&D teams on PCT and national-phase strategy.
Professional Standards
How we work
Bar Council Member Practice
All legal work is carried out by or under the supervision of advocates and solicitors admitted to the Malaysian Bar, in compliance with the Legal Profession Act 1976.
MyIPO Registered Agents
We are registered to act before the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia for trademark and patent prosecution, and maintain current familiarity with MyIPO procedural requirements.
Client Confidentiality
All client information is held in strict confidence. Non-disclosure obligations are maintained as a matter of professional conduct and our internal information-handling practices.
Written Engagement Terms
Each matter begins with a clear written scope of engagement, fee estimate, and timeline. There are no verbal-only retainers; you know what the engagement covers before work begins.
Regular Status Reporting
Portfolio clients receive periodic status reports on all open matters, with procedural deadlines clearly flagged and action items noted. You are not left to wonder where your filings stand.
Continuing Professional Development
Our team maintains CPD obligations under Malaysian Bar requirements and attends MyIPO briefings and IP industry updates, ensuring advice reflects current law and practice.
IP Counsel Grounded in Malaysian Law
Intellectual property in Malaysia is governed by a layered framework: the Trademarks Act 2019, Patents Act 1983, Copyright Act 1987, Industrial Designs Act 1996, and the Geographical Indications Act 2022. Each regime has distinct procedural requirements, different limitation periods, and different remedies available when rights are infringed. Mutiara IP maintains current working familiarity with all four regimes and their interaction — including the transitional provisions of the 2019 trademark reforms that still affect pending matters and existing registrations.
East Malaysia — Sabah and Sarawak in particular — presents a client base with specific needs: natural-resource-related technology patents, craft and indigenous design matters with industrial design applications, creative-industry copyright questions arising from a diverse cultural production sector, and agribusiness trademarks that require coordinated registration across domestic and export markets. Our Kota Kinabalu base means we are accessible to these clients without the friction of engaging Kuala Lumpur counsel for straightforward domestic matters.
For international-facing clients, we work with established networks of foreign IP practitioners to coordinate Madrid Protocol trademark applications, PCT patent prosecution, and cross-border licensing. We manage the Malaysia-side elements and coordinate outward, rather than requiring clients to maintain multiple direct relationships with separate law firms in each territory.
Ready to discuss your IP matter?
We are glad to have an initial conversation about what you have built and what protection may be appropriate. There is no obligation in making an enquiry.
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