IP considerations for the cleantech industry in South-East Asia.
Date: 2019-05-28
Institutions: Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
Subjects: South-East Asia, clean technology, designs and models, industrial counterfeiting, industrial property, intellectual property, new technology, patent, registered trade mark, small and medium-sized enterprises, trade mark

For free, conﬁdential, business-focused  
IP advice within three working days  
E-mail: question@southeastasia-iprhelpdesk.eu

Overview: Cleantech Industry in  
South-East Asia

Considerations concerning Patents

Considerations concerning Trade marks 

Considerations concerning IP monetisation

Finding your partner in South-East Asia: 
Due Diligence, IP tips and watch-outs

SME Case Studies

Take-Away Messages

Glossary of Terms

Related links and additional information

8

9

IP Considerations in the
Cleantech Industry in  
South-East Asia

1. Overview: Cleantech Industry in South-East Asia

Rapid  population  growth  and  sustained  economic  growth  in  South-East 
Asia  is  exerting  enormous  pressure  on  the  environment.  In  response, 
South-East  Asian  countries  are  embracing  renewable  energy,  moving 
away  from  dated,  fossil  fuel-based  energy  solutions  in  favour  of  more 
sustainable technology. Stricter environmental governance policies such 
as vehicular CO2 emission limits and mandatory energy rating labelling of 
selected household appliances have been adopted to promote sustainable 
development in the region. Increased public awareness of the benefit of 
sustainable business practices have also driven consumers and companies 
to increasingly consider “eco” or “green” alternatives in their purchasing 
decisions.

The  cleantech  industry  which not only comprises the renewable  energy 
sector but describes products and services that improve productivity or 
efficiency  while  reducing  costs,  inputs,  energy  consumption,  waste,  or 
pollution  is  thus  gaining  momentum  in  South-East  Asia,  paralleling  the 
dynamic growth of the region.

To  address  the  challenges  of  sustainable  energy  growth  and  climate 
change,  the  ASEAN  member  states  have  been  following  a  deliberate 
policy of diversifying and using indigenous energy sources efficiently at 
the national level. ASEAN energy ministers collectively agreed to set an 
aspirational target for the share of renewable energy in the region to 23% 
of the Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES) by 20251.

1 http://www.aseanenergy.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/HighRes-APAEC-online-version-final.pdf

Internal Market,
Industry,  
Entrepreneurship  
and SMEs

2 IP Considerations in the Cleantech Industry in South-East Asia

Indonesia  announced  in  May  2017  that  it  will  build  the 
world’s largest tidal power facility in Flores that will supply 
electricity to more than 100,000 of its residents2. Cambodia 
has entered the solar power rush with a US$9.2 million solar 
farm in Bavet3, which is already in its trial testing stage and 
scheduled to be fully operational by 2017. Micro-grids are 
increasingly relied upon to meet the need for electrification of 
hundreds or thousands of islands in the South-East Asian region 
with Indonesia aiming to install micro-grids to bring electricity to 
90 per cent of its off-grid population by 20254. 

Major clean technologies such as alternate energy sources are 
capital intensive and can take a long time to achieve market 
acceptance, especially when they are more expensive than 
existing processes. Patent filing should form an essential part of 
the EU SMEs IP strategy as a way to recoup their development 
costs and market their inventions without interference from 
competitors. Having a strategic patent portfolio will also benefit 
a  cleantech  company  seeking  venture  capital  funding  as 
cleantech investors often demand patent protection as a way of 
securing monopoly profits to achieve expected returns.

Europe remains the world’s preeminent hotbed for cleantech 
innovation. In the latest Global Cleantech Innovation Index5, a 
report identifying the world’s leading hotspots for sustainable 
innovation released in June 2017, European countries made up 
7 of the top 10. This has enabled Europe to produce some of 
the world’s most successful cleantech ventures and European 
cleantech SMEs are well-positioned to be an enabler to South-
East Asia’s adoption of cleantech technology.

As South-East Asia’s cleantech market becomes increasingly 
competitive from new players entering the lucrative market, 
cleantech EU SMEs should include an IP strategy that is cohesive 
with  their  broader  business  strategy  in  South-East  Asia.  A 
comprehensive IP strategy will identify IP risks prior to market 
entry so they can be properly managed as well as exploit and 
maximise the value of a company’s IP portfolio in support of its 
business goals.

2. Considerations concerning Patents 

Developments  in  the  area  of  cleantech  are  being  pushed 
forward by a convergence of advances in material sciences, 
biology, and information technology. Over the past decade, the 
number of Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications has 
increased steadily in the cleantech arena. Patent offices around 
the world (AU, CA, CN, BR, IS, JP, UK and US)6 have introduced 
fast track processing of “green” patent applications to promote 
technological innovation in this field7, reducing the time from 
filing to grant to less than a year. To facilitate reliable retrieval 
of patent documents and analysis of patent filing trends for 
technologies related to climate change mitigation, the European 
Patent  Office  has  established  a  new  classification  scheme 
(Y-tags including Y02 and Y04S)8.

Although the patent offices in South-East Asia have yet to 
adopt the fast track processing of “green” patent applications, 
EU SMEs that have filed and obtained grants for “green” patents 
in AU, JP, UK and US should take note that it is possible to make 
use of these early granted patents to accelerate the grant of 
their patent applications in South-East Asia countries, including 
Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Innovation  in  cleantech  does  not  only  involve  disruptive  or 
radical innovation but also includes advancements based on 
technology  that  has  been  in  existence  for  many  years.  For 
developments in cleantech that is characterised by incremental 
innovation, it is possible that such new technologies can be 
protected as a utility model patent as opposed to a standard 
patent. An advantage of filing a utility model patent is the 
relatively quick timeframe from filing to grant which can be less 
than half of the typical processing time of a standard patent.

Cleantech EU SMEs that introduce new product designs should 
consider industrial design registration as part of their overall 
IP  strategy.  Registering  the  design  for  example  of  a  new 
wind turbine configuration is a fast and inexpensive way of 
protecting its three-dimensional feature. A design registration is 
an effective tool for businesses to stop competitors making or 
selling a similar looking product. The relatively quick registration 
rate of industrial designs further allows the rights owner to 
prevent sale of counterfeits when the corresponding patent 
application is still pending and cannot be enforced. 

Example of Industrial Design Registration in South-East Asia
Malaysian Design Registration No. 08-01549-0101-0001
Article Name: WINDMILL FOR WIND POWER GENERATON

2  http://asian-power.com/project/news/indonesia-build-worlds-largest-tidal-

power-plant

3  http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5079197/solar-power-set-shine-bavet/
4   https://www.edb.gov.sg/content/edb/en/news-and-events/news/2014-news/
southeast-asias-first-and-largest-micro-grid-testbed-to-be-built-on-
singapores-semakau-landfill.html

5   http://info.cleantech.com/WWF-Index-2017_WWF-Index-2017-Submit.html
6  AU, CA, CN, BR, IS, JP, UK and US are the internationally recognized codes 
of patent office of the following countries: Australia, Canada, China, Brazil, 
Iceland, Japan, United Kingdom, and United States of America.
7  http://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2013/03/article_0002.html
8  https://www.epo.org/news-issues/issues/classification/classification.html

Free Business Tools to Manage your IP in South-East Asia

3

Singapore patent application no. 11201609620T
Title: WIND TURBINE TOWER AND METHOD FOR ERECTING A 
WIND TURBINE TOWER

Protection  of  inventions  can  alternatively  be  managed  as 
trade  secrets  and  know-how.  Inventions  for  which  patents 
are  filed  ultimately  become  public  knowledge,  which  can 
allow  competitors  to  offer  competing  solutions  designed-
around the patented technology. Cleantech inventions with 
a commercial shelf-life of significantly longer than 20 years 
may  be  considered  for  trade  secret  protection,  but  only  if 
the business is confident in its capacity to protect its trade 
secrets (i.e. has robust policies in place to ensure trade secret 
and confidential information security). A significant weakness 
of  protecting  invention  by  trade  secret  is  that  it  does  not 
prevent independent development and commercial exploit of 
the same invention by a competitor. The competitor may also 
legitimately file patents for same invention provided that the 
invention  was  independently  arrived  at  through  their  own 
research efforts.

For more information about Patents in South-East Asia, please refer 
to our Guide on Protecting Your Patents in South-East Asia at http://
www.southeastasia-iprhelpdesk.eu/sites/default/files/publications/
EN_patent.pdf

For more  information about Industrial Designs in South-East Asia, 
please  refer  to  our  Guide  on  Protecting  Your  Industrial  Designs  in 
South-East  Asia  at http://www.southeastasia-iprhelpdesk.eu/sites/
default/files/page_pdf/Industrial%20Designs%20Protection%20
in%20South-East%20Asia.pdf

3. Considerations concerning Trade marks 

In a crowded and competitive market, the need for targeted 
brand  positioning  and  product  differentiation  is  key  to 
distinguishing  a  cleantech  company  from  the  rest  of  its 
competition. Cleantech companies need to include branding 
in  their  overall  IP  strategy  to  reach  out  to  consumers 
and  gain  loyalty.  This  involves  surveying  of  the  market, 
competitors, and the audience in order to construct a clear 
identity  that  ideally  incorporates  a  "green"  element  that 
conveys efficiency, responsibility and sustainability. 

A company is identified most commonly through its company 
name, logos and taglines, all of which are protectable under 
trade mark rights. Securing ownership and rights to relevant 
trade marks that will be used in the region is a crucial first 
step in ensuring the smooth implementation of the branding 
strategy.  Traditionally,  trade  marks  rights  are  acquired  by 
registration  in  each  South-East  Asian  country  of  interest. 
This process can be simplified with significant reduction in 
cost  by  filing  an  international  trade  mark  application  via 
the Madrid System. By filing such international trade mark 
application, the applicant can simultaneously apply for trade 
mark protection in seven of the ten ASEAN member countries 
namely,  Brunei,  Singapore,  Cambodia,  Laos,  Vietnam, 
Thailand (from November 7, 2017) and the Philippines. 

In addition to securing ownership by trade mark registration, 
EU SMEs should take steps to avoid infringing third party’s 
trademark rights through trademark searches. 
Trade marks take time and effort to develop recognition and 
generate  goodwill  in  the  marketplace  but  often ultimately 
become a company’s most valuable IP assets. As a company 
continues  to  develop  recognition  of  its  trade  marks  and 
corresponding  establishment  of  goodwill  in  the  market,  it 
may leverage on other forms of intellectual property rights 
such as copyright, patents and registered designs to establish 
its  position  in  the  marketplace. Hence  it  is  important  to 
strategically  build  a  coordinated  IP  strategy  that  includes 
all possible combinations of IP rights from the outset of the 
business or product launch.

For more information about Trade marks in South-East Asia, please 
refer  to  our  Guide  on  Protecting  Your  Trade  marks  in  South-East 
Asia  at http://www.southeastasia-iprhelpdesk.eu/sites/default/files/
publications/EN_TM.pdf

4 IP Considerations in the Cleantech Industry in South-East Asia

Consideration should also be given to the end of life of the 
licensing relationship, including dealing with matters such as 
repatriation of confidential information, return of products or 
equipment, and cessation of the use of the licensed IP.

IP  assignment  entails  transferring  ownership  of  IP  to  a 
third  party,  so  the  assignor  no  longer  has  any  ownership, 
involvement or claim on rights associated with the IP. A key 
benefit  for  assigning  ownership  of  IP  is  that  the  original 
owner  does  not  retain  responsibility  for  maintaining  the 
validity of the IP right such as through payment of renewal 
fees and typically will receive an up-front payment for the 
sale of the right. 

Care  should  be  taken  to  ensure  that  the  IP  assignment 
instrument not only complies with the provisions of relevant 
IP laws, but also that the assignment is recorded in a timely 
manner  at  the  IP  offices.  For  example,  in  Singapore  if  a 
patent assignee does not register the assignment within six 
months  of  the  transaction,  this  person  will  not  be  able  to 
claim costs or expenses in proceedings for an infringement 
that occurred before registration of the assignment, unless 
the  court  can  be  satisfied  that  that  it  was  not  practicable 
to  register  it  in  that  period  and  that  the  transaction  was 
registered as soon as possible after. 

For more information about Technology Transfer to South-East Asia, 
please  refer  to  our  Guide  on  Technology  Transfer  to  South-East 
Asia  at http://www.southeastasia-iprhelpdesk.eu/sites/default/files/
publications/Technology-Transfer-English.pdf

4. Considerations concerning IP monetisation

IP  monetisation  is  an  attractive  value-added  activity  that 
can increase the return on investment for R&D and market 
development  which  have  already  been  spent  on  existing 
products.  Due  to  the  high  cost  of  manufacture  and  the 
comparatively  small  investment  of  a  licensing  program, 
many of the risks that a EU cleantech SME would otherwise 
face  in  exploiting  its  IP  in  the  South-East  Asia  region 
can  be  transferred  to  the  licensee.  Research  shows  that 
innovating companies can increase their operating income by 
5-10% from the sale or license of patents and proprietary 
technologies.

The  increase  in  outward  transfer  of  a  company’s  own 
proprietary technology is also in part due to the trend toward 
collaborative  innovation.  Other  reasons  for  licensing  would 
be  to  achieve  strategic  benefits,  such  as  establishing  a 
technology standard within an industry, entering new markets 
such  as  the  South-East  Asia  region  or  cross-licensing  to 
gain  access  to  proprietary  knowledge  from  competing  or 
complementary businesses.

Prior to negotiations, an IP audit is recommended to clarify 
ownership  issues,  review  employment  and  contractor 
agreements,  check  confidential  disclosure  or  material 
transfer  agreements,  and  register  assignment  agreements 
with  respective  IP  offices.  An  IP  counsel  can  be  engaged 
to undertake such IP audit before licensing discussions are 
initiated. 

In the cleantech industry, a license agreement will frequently 
include  both  tangible  and  intangible  assets.  For  example, 
in the wastewater management sector, the technology will 
typically  include  some  form  of  treatment  process,  trade-
secrets & know-how relating to the operation of the plant, 
as  well  as  patents  on  the  underlying  technology.  Defining 
exactly what assets are to be licensed, exclusively or non-
exclusively, and for which jurisdictions, is an essential step in 
any licensing negotiation.

The financial terms of an IP license should be determined in 
the context of the business objective that the EU SME has for 
the particular South-East Asian country and in consideration 
all the other related transactions with the licensee. Financial 
returns may be less critical for example where the licensor 
is  seeking  to  advocate  a  technology  standard.  Common 
valuation methods, such as the cost method, income method 
and market method can be used to assist both the licensee 
and licensor to value a technology.

License agreements should anticipate litigation and address 
the  roles  and  responsibilities  of  each  party  in  any  action. 
Patent  infringement  lawsuits  are  typically  expensive  and 
time  consuming,  so  it  is  important  to  decide  whether  the 
responsibility lies with yourself or with the licensee should 
your  patent  be  challenged  or  infringed.  Indemnities  and 
protocols  for  handling  infringement  claims  should  be 
carefully considered.

Free Business Tools to Manage your IP in South-East Asia

5

5. Finding your partner in South-East Asia:  
Due Diligence, IP tips and Watch-outs

A  major  challenge  for  an  EU  SME  setting  up  their  South-
East Asia business division is developing an effective setup 
to access and serve the regional market. Having dedicated 
operations  in  each  ASEAN  country  is  usually  not  a  cost-
effective  strategy  for  smaller  businesses.  Distributorships 
and partnerships are often considered by smaller businesses 
as crucial in order to operate effectively in South-East Asia.

Distribution agreements vary widely, from a simple royalty 
sales  agreement  to  a  regional  licensing,  manufacturing 
and  distribution  agreement. The  legal  issues  arising  from 
licensing and distribution arrangements can be complex and 
specialised,  and  an  awareness  of  the  potential  risks  and 
challenges is essential from the outset.

The  distribution  agreement  should,  as  drafted  by  a  local 
agent,    identify  and  list  all  types  of  IP,  for  example  the 
trademark,  trade  names,  copyright,  patent,  with clear 
provisions  on  the  extent  of  use  of  these  rights.  Before 
entering  into  a  distribution  agreement,  the  exporter  must 
ensure that any registrable IP rights being licensed under the 
agreement  are  already  registered  or  at  least,  applications 
have  been  filed  in  the  name  of  the  rights  holder  in  the 
relevant South-East Asian country. 

Exporters often realize the importance of protecting their IP 
when they are faced with imitators or counterfeiters or when 
they are being accused of infringing the rights of others. It is 
therefore important to identify and work with a reliable agent 
that  is  actively  involved  in  defending  the  IP  rights  of  the 
exporter. A good distributor will be able to make use of their 
extensive network in the markets they  operate in to monitor 
infringement activities on behalf of the rights holder.
IP  issues  may  arise  when  a  distributorship  relationship  is 
terminated.  The  distributors  may  continue  to  distribute 
products marked with the exporter’s trademark or offer for 
sale competing products that are very similar in functionality. 
A  robust  distributor  agreement  should  include  provisions 
on the limitations of such rights after the expiration of the 
distributorship agreement. 
Discussions with potential new partners invariably will lead 
to  sharing  of  private  and  confidential  information.  Prior  to 
entering into talks with a potential partner, the European SME 
should  request  for  the  signing  of  a  formal  Non-Disclosure 
Agreement  (NDA)  that  identify  specific  IP  or  confidential 
information  that  may  be  disclosed  during  the  course  of 
discussion.  The  primary  purpose  of  an  NDA  is  to  facilitate 
in-depth  interaction  between  the  parties  by  allowing  them 
to exchange information under the common understanding 
that  matters  discussed  are  protected  by  confidentiality. 
This  is  especially  important  when  partnership  discussions 
fall  through  as  the  NDA  will  restrict  the  potential  partner 
from  unauthorised  commercial  exploitation  of  disclosed 
information.

It  would  be  prudent  to  conduct  a  background  check  (due 
diligence)  of  the  standing  of  the  local  agent  or  partner 
before  entering  into  business  agreements  with  them.  Such 
exercise  can  uncover  issues  that  could  be  addressed  prior 
to  the  agreement  or  cast  doubts  over  the  viability  of  the 
partnership. The due diligence exercise can be conducted by 
sending the prospective partners a questionnaire or asking 
them  specific  questions  on  their  business  practices,  their 
past experience with foreign IP owners and their experience 
in  the  relevant  field.  Search  for  the  prospective  partner 
on  the  corporate  registers  and  for  information  relating  to 
reputational  issues  or  previous  litigation.  Alternatively,  the 
due  diligence  exercise  can  be  conducted  by  an  appointed 
local adviser.

New  technologies  or  designs  may  arise  in  the  course  of 
business  through  third  party  contractors  or  employees  of 
the  EU  SME’s  local  partners  which  eventually  can  become 
valuable assets of the business. It is important that EU SME’s 
pay  attention  to  tracking  and  managing  of  the  intellectual 
property  rights  in  these  newly  created  technologies  or 
designs. 

Typically,  there  are  default  rules  in  each  South  East  Asian 
country  that  determine  the  IP  ownership  of  such  newly 
created technologies or designs. In some cases, it may not 
be clear whether the new technology or design was created 
by  an  individual  under  direct  employment  of  the  local 
partner, which would lead to uncertainty in ownership of the 
IP.  For  better  control  over  the  IP  ownership  of  technology 
or design created by your local partner or their contractors, 
the best approach would be to have a contract that outlines 
ownership of the IP relating to such developments.

For more information about protect your Intellectual Property when 
dealing with partners in South-East Asia, please refer to our Guide 
on Using Contracts to Protect your Intellectual Property in South-East 
Asia  at http://www.southeastasia-iprhelpdesk.eu/sites/default/files/
EN_using_Contracts_20170417.pdf

6 IP Considerations in the Cleantech Industry in South-East Asia

6. SME Case Studies

  Case study 1: Patent infringement

Background
A  clean  energy  solutions  provider  (“Company  A”)  was 
contracted  to  supply  and  install  solar  photovoltaic 
systems  on  the  rooftop  of  a  US  tech  giant’s  facility  in 
Singapore and supply the remaining required power from 
offsite solar systems, making the tech giant the first firm 
in Singapore to be fully powered by renewable energy.

Actions taken
A  solar  energy  retailer  (“Company  B”)  sued  the  clean 
energy solutions provider for infringement of its Singapore 
patent  relating  to  power  grid  systems.  In  its  defense, 
Company A denied infringement and filed a counterclaim 
to revoke patent and for remedies for groundless threat 
of  proceedings.  From  court  documents,  Company  A 
noted  that  Company  B  had  made  threats  of  patent 
infringement  proceedings  to  the  former’s  clients  and 
potential customers. This had resulted in the withdrawal 
of a project that was originally awarded to Company A. In 
the counter-suit, Company A also claimed that Company B 
had interfered with Company A’s trade, including defaming 

Company  A’s  subsidiaries  by  making  and  publishing 
statements that were calculated to disparage Company A, 
resulting in losses included loss of contracts from existing 
and  potential  customers,  and  damage  to  its  reputation 
and market standing.

Outcome
The lawsuit is still ongoing before the Court of Singapore.

Lessons Learned
Although  the  patent  infringement  suit  is  still  ongoing, 
important  lessons  can  be  learnt  from  this  example. 
Significant  business  deals  can  be  obstructed  by 
competitors that threaten or suggest patent infringement 
suits  to  a  business  and  their  clients.  A  comprehensive 
patent freedom to operate opinion should be conducted 
prior  to  offering  technology  solutions  in  new  territories 
to minimize the risk of such occurrence. In the event of 
an actual patent infringement, the alleged infringer can 
respond in several ways including seeking invalidation of 
the patent and seeking remedies for groundless threats.

  Case study 2: Confidentiality Clauses in Employment Contracts in South-East Asia

Background
Four  employees  from  a  provider  of  water  treatment 
services (Company A) left the company within the same 
year to work for a competitor (Company B). During that 
year,  four  contracts  that  Company  A  had  attempted 
to  secure,  two  of  which  were  servicing  contracts  that 
Company  A  was  the  incumbent,  were  awarded  to 
Company B. 

Actions taken
Company  A  filed  a  suit  against  Company  B  and  its  ex-
employees  claiming,  amongst  other  matters,  breach  of 
confidence for leaking of confidential information relating 
to  costing  and  pricing  practice  in  relation  to  various 
products,  designs  and/or  systems  of  the  plaintiff,  the 
plaintiff’s customer lists and contact particulars; details 
of the plaintiff’s terms of trade with various customers 
and  details  of  the  plaintiff’s  water  purification  filter 
regeneration plant.

Outcome
The  plaintiff’s  case  was  dismissed.  The  court  ruled  that 
the plaintiff did not specify the nature of the confidential 
information  used  by  the  defendants  beyond  general 
knowledge  of  the  pricing  structure.  Information  on  the 
costs of various components making up water purification 
systems  were  not  deemed  to  be  of  a  sufficiently  high 
level of confidentiality that the defendants were obligated 
not to use or disclose to their new employers.

Lessons Learned
Confidential information such as trade secrets are critical 
to  the  functioning  of  a  company.  As  demonstrated  in 
this case, failure to properly identify, secure and protect 
confidential  business  information  can  lead  to  the  loss 
of  business/clients.  EU  SMEs  should  ensure  that  their 
IP  management  strategy  includes  the  protection  of 
confidential information. Confidential information should 
be  clearly  identified  and  stored  securely  with  restricted 
access to deter against an unauthorised information leak 
which  is  especially  common  when  employees  leave  the 
organisation.

   7.  Take-Away Messages

•  EU SMEs should be aware of the different types of 
IP  protection  offered  by  the  different  South-East 
Asian countries and establish their IP strategy before 
entering  new  markets  with  the  support  of  local 
experts.

•  A d o p t   a n   I P   s t r a t e g y   t h a t   m a ke s   u s e   o f   a 
combination  of  IP  to  protect  your  medical  devices 
products.  A  single  product  can  be  protected  using 
patent, industrial design and trade mark registration.

• 

IP  clearance  searches  should  be  performed  prior 
to entering new markets to ensure that prior rights 
belonging to third parties are not infringed by the EU 
SMEs’ business activities in the market.

•  EU  SMEs  should  register  their  IP  in  South-East 
Asian  countries  where  the  option  of  registration  is 
available, particularly before entering the market.

•  Due diligence to identify potential IP issues should 
be performed before forming strategic partnerships 
with  local  entities  such  as  research  institutes  and 
distributors. It is crucial to work only with trustworthy 
partners that respect your IP rights as well as the IP 
rights of others.

•  EU  SMEs  should  establish  a  surveillance  protocol 
to  identify  possible  infringement.  Monitoring  of 
market  activities  such  as  visiting  of  relevant  trade 
fairs,  internet  searches  and  maintaining  close 
communication with local distributors and licensees 
can help with early detection of infringing activities.

Free Business Tools to Manage your IP in South-East Asia

7

8. Glossary of Terms

•   Cross-licensing: Technology pooling arrangement in which 
participating firms grant (usually royalty free) licenses to 
one another.

•   IP Audit: A systematic review of the intellectual properties 
owned,  used  or  acquired  by  a  business  so  as  to  assess 
and  manage  risk,  remedy  problems  and  implement  best 
practices in IP asset management.

•   IP monetization: The generation of revenue or the attempt 
to generate revenue by a person or company by selling or 
licensing the IP it owns.

•   IP strategy: The obtaining of optimum legal protection of 

an intellectual asset to achieve a business objective.

•   Madrid  System:  A  centrally  administered  system  of 
obtaining a bundle of trademark registrations in multiple 
jurisdictions. The Madrid Union currently has 99 members, 
covering 115 countries.

•   Microgrid:  A  discrete  local  energy  system  consisting 
of  distributed  energy  sources  (including  demand 
management, storage, and generation) and loads capable 
of  operating  in  parallel  with,  or  independently  from,  the 
main power grid.

•   Sustainable  technology:  Technology  that  relies  on 
resources  that  are  either  renewable  or  so  abundant 
that  we  can  treat  them  as  such.  For  technology  to  be 
sustainable  also  means  that  using  it  does  not  have  any 
long-term adverse impact on the environment.

•   Total  primary  energy  supply  (TPES):  The  sum  of  all 
energy resources including coal, oil, gas, nuclear, wind and 
hydropower.

9. Related links and additional information 

•   Visit our Guide on Patent Protection in South-East Asia - 

http://www.southeastasia-iprhelpdesk.eu/sites/default/files/
publications/EN_patent.pdf

•   Visit our Guide on Trade marks Protection in South-East 
Asia - http://www.southeastasia-iprhelpdesk.eu/sites/
default/files/publications/EN_TM.pdf

•   Visit our Guide on Transfer of Technology to South-East 
Asia - http://www.southeastasia-iprhelpdesk.eu/sites/
default/files/publications/Technology-Transfer-English.pdf

•   Visit our Guide on Using Contracts to Protect your 
Intellectual Property - http://www.southeastasia-
iprhelpdesk.eu/sites/default/files/EN_using_
Contracts_20170417.pdf

•   Visit the country factsheets of each South-East Asian 

countries - http://www.southeastasia-iprhelpdesk.eu/en/
country-factsheets 

•   Visit other publications at South-East Asia IPR SME 

Helpdesk website – www.ipr-hub.eu 

•   Visit the Helpdesk blog http://yourIPinsider.eu for related 

articles on IP in South-East Asia and China

  
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Free South-East Asia IP advice for European SMEs

>  For more information and to discuss how we can work together, 

please contact us:

  Tel: +84 28 3825 8116 | Tel: +32 2 663 30 51  
Email: question@southeastasia-iprhelpdesk.eu  
Online: www.ipr-hub.eu

>  If you have a question about protecting intellectual property 

in any South-East Asia country, please contact our free 
conﬁdential helpline at:  

  question@southeastasia-iprhelpdesk.eu 

A initiative of the  
European Commission   

Project implemented by:

PRACSIS

The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the position or opinion of the European Commission. The services of the South-East Asia IPR 
SME Helpdesk are not of a legal or advisory nature and no responsibility is accepted for the results of any actions made on the basis of its services. 
Before taking speciﬁc actions in relation to IP Protection or enforcement all customers are advised to seek independent advice.
© European Union, 2019. Reuse is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. The reuse policy of European Commission documents is regulated 
by Decision 2011/833/EU OJ L 330, 14.12.2011, p.39.

The paper used in this product is manufactured  
from managed forests and is FSC certiﬁed.

ISBN 978-92-9202-504-5
doi:10.2826/437803

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