International · MY
Trademark refusal rate in Malaysia: Madrid System filings
47,774 international registrations on record designate Malaysia. Among the 15,269 designations registered 2019–2022 (the resolved cohort we measure outcomes on), 37% received a provisional refusal, 2,312 (15.1%) are still refused outright, 339 partially, and 11,222 (73.5%) hold a grant of protection. That refusal rate is above the 4.4% median across the 60 most-designated offices.
How U.S. companies fare in Malaysia compared with 60+ other offices: where U.S. trademark owners get refused abroad.
48% of the registrations designating Malaysia also designate the United States. Those appear in USPTO data as well, so a USPTO clearance check catches them; the rest are invisible to a U.S.-only search.
Most-designated Nice classes in Malaysia
| Class | Goods / services | Registrations |
|---|---|---|
| Class 9 | Computers & Electronics | 13,444 |
| Class 35 | Advertising & Business | 8,107 |
| Class 42 | Computer & Scientific | 7,117 |
| Class 3 | Cosmetics & Cleaning | 6,620 |
| Class 5 | Pharmaceuticals | 5,709 |
| Class 41 | Education & Entertainment | 5,045 |
| Class 25 | Clothing | 4,357 |
| Class 7 | Machinery | 3,984 |
| Class 28 | Toys & Sporting Goods | 3,194 |
| Class 30 | Staple Foods | 3,056 |
Who files into Malaysia
Office of origin of the registrations designating Malaysia, where the filers are based.
| Office of origin | Registrations | Share |
|---|---|---|
| China (CN) | 10,857 | 22.7% |
| United States (US) | 5,865 | 12.3% |
| Japan (JP) | 4,716 | 9.9% |
| European Union (EM) | 4,645 | 9.7% |
| South Korea (KR) | 3,265 | 6.8% |
| United Kingdom (GB) | 2,082 | 4.4% |
| Singapore (SG) | 2,021 | 4.2% |
| France (FR) | 1,975 | 4.1% |
International registrations designating Malaysia, by registration year
Registrations on record by the year they were registered internationally. Our copy covers registrations with activity since July 2025, so older years reflect renewals and decisions, not original volume.
| Year | Registrations | Volume |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 382 | |
| 2018 | 561 | |
| 2019 | 801 | |
| 2020 | 3,895 | |
| 2021 | 4,866 | |
| 2022 | 5,707 | |
| 2023 | 6,840 | |
| 2024 | 8,799 | |
| 2025 | 9,035 | |
| 2026 | 4,389 |
Planning to designate Malaysia? Run your mark through the free clearance risk check. It searches the international register in your classes and shows where similar marks were refused. If your mark has a logo, screen it with logo similarity search.