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September 30, 2026

Protecting Packaging in Myanmar: Trademarks vs. Industrial Designs

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Packaging is a valuable commercial asset that helps consumers identify and distinguish products through their shape, colors, graphics, labels, and overall presentation. Obtaining legal protections for these assets is thus an important step.

Businesses entering into or operating in the Myanmar market should assess whether trademark protection, industrial design protection, or both provide the strongest IP strategy for these features. The country’s Intellectual Property Department (IPD) under the Ministry of Commerce now administers trademark and industrial design registrations since Myanmar’s modernization of its intellectual property framework through the enactment of four key IP laws in 2019.

Trademark Protection for Packaging

Under the Trademark Law 2019, a “mark” is any visually perceptible sign, including words, names, letters, numerals, figurative elements, color combinations, or combinations of these signs, capable of distinguishing one undertaking’s goods or services from another’s. Trademark protection may therefore extend to certain elements of product packaging that function as source identifiers.

Depending on their presentation and distinctiveness, packaging elements such as brand names, logos, labels, configurations, color combinations, and three-dimensional (3D) shapes may qualify for trademark protection. However, under the current practice of the IPD and its available examination guidelines, the packaging and  trade dress (including product get-up) are not expressly recognized as separate registrable subject matter in Myanmar.

Under the Trademark Law 2019, trademark infringement—including unauthorized use of a registered mark on packaging—may give rise to civil remedies, including injunctions and damages, as well as criminal penalties.

A 3D mark may protect packaging shape or configuration if it has acquired distinctiveness through use and consumers associate it with the relevant products. However, a shape dictated by a functional or technical purpose is ineligible for registration. Registration of a 3D mark may be renewed indefinitely for successive ten-year periods, subject to compliance with renewal requirements.

Industrial Design Protection for Packaging

The Industrial Design Law 2019 provides protection for “the appearance of the whole or a part of any industrial or handicraft product” created by lines, contours, colors, shapes, textures, or materials of the product or its ornamentation. This protection extends to the product’s component parts, packaging, get-up, graphic symbols, and typographic typefaces, but doesn’t include computer programs. Because packaging and get-up are expressly included, they may be registered directly as industrial designs in Myanmar.

Packaging or get-up may be protected if it is new and independently created, subject to compliance with filing requirements. The Industrial Design Law 2019 also provides enforcement mechanisms, including civil remedies for infringement of a registered industrial design. However, designs dictated solely by technical or functional considerations, or those contrary to “public order, morality, faith, or the cherished culture of Myanmar,” are not registrable. Protection lasts five years from filing and may be renewed twice for a maximum of 15 years, after which the design enters the public domain.

Choosing the Best IP Strategy

Trademark and industrial design protection serve different purposes and may complement each other. Trademark protection is suitable for packaging elements that function as indicators of commercial origin, such as brand names, logos, and 3D configurations that have acquired distinctiveness. Industrial design protection, on the other hand, safeguards the visual appearance of packaging regardless of whether consumers associate it with a particular source.

For businesses introducing products into Myanmar, a combination of trademark and industrial design protection may provide the most comprehensive strategy. Industrial design registration can protect the packaging’s visual appearance during the product launch stage, while trademark protection may offer longer-term protection for distinctive branding elements that become recognized by consumers over time.

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