Martin Howe KC spoke in Kuala Lumpur at the launch of the 10th Edition of Russell-Clarke and Howe on Industrial Designs, which contains a new section on the law of Malaysia contributed by Hemalatha Parasa Ramulu, a partner in Skrine, the leading Kuala Lumpur firm of Advocates and Solicitors who have strong intellectual property expertise.
The event on 21st September 2023 was co-hosted by Skrine and 8 New Square. Justice of the Federal Court of Malaysia Tan Sri Datuk, Nallini Pathmanathan, spoke and welcomed the way the publication would allow judges and lawyers in Malaysia readier access to United Kingdom and other Commonwealth authorities who have similar industrial designs laws, and would also make Malaysian authorities more accessible elsewhere in the Commonwealth.
The event was attended by the Attorney General of Malaysia Ahmad Terrirudin, the British High Commissioner Her Excellency Ailsa Terry, judges of the Court of Appeal and High Court, and many Kuala Lumpur lawyers who specialise in intellectual property.
Skrine Partner Khoo Guan Huat explained how the Malaysia section of the book had grown out of collaboration with Martin Howe KC originally on a patent case but more recently on a series of industrial design cases in the Malaysian courts. Martin Howe KC thanked all those attending and especially Justice Nallini Pathmanathan and Mr Khoo for their remarks, and explained the history of the book going back to the first edition by Alan Russell-Clarke in 1930.
Originally a book about the industrial design laws of the United Kingdom, in recent editions he had extended coverage to other jurisdictions whose design law is historically linked with the UK. This made the book more useful for judges, lawyers and legal academics in those jurisdictions in finding case law relevant to them, and also meant that significant case law in those jurisdictions would be brought to the attention of a wider audience across the Commonwealth. The new section on Malaysia would join the existing updated sections on Australia, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, New Zealand and Singapore.
For the 9th and 10th Editions, 8 New Square members James St.Ville KC and Ashton Chantrielle joined Martin Howe KC as editors of Russell-Clarke and Howe on Industrial Designs.
Left to right: Girish Kamat, MD of Thomson Reuters Malaysia; Hemalatha Parasa Ramulu, author of Malaysia section; Martin Howe KC; and Tan Sri Nallini Pathmanathan, Justice of the Federal Court of Malaysia