Joyi Cheah 谢濡羽 - Cross Border IP Brand Specialist

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Joyi Cheah 谢濡羽 - Cross Border IP Brand Specialist Joyi is an IP Practitioner specialised in Cross Border Trademark Registration and Enforcement with a Legal background with over 12 years experience.

JCIP International Sdn Bhd (Co Reg. 202201010839) What is the No.1 obstacle in brand protection that you always wanted to solve but can’t seem to get the right solution? The one obstacle that is nagging you the most and you can’t wait to get it settled right away? Let me help you to overcome this obstacle. Hi, my name is Joyi. I am a Registered Trademark Agent, Registered Industrial Design Agent with a legal background and I have been practising Trademark Law since the year 2011. I have personally handled hundreds of cases with nearly every type of trademark matter nationally and internationally. I am fluent in multiple languages namely: Mandarin, Cantonese, Hockien, English and Malay. After years of practising experience and continuing self-development, I am now on a mission to share everything I know about brand protection, strategies that is practical and easy to apply for people who appreciate the power of branding. Over here, you will get to know everything about trademark and its potential in helping your business grow exponentially. JCIP International Sdn Bhd (Co Reg. No: 202201010839)

13/10/2026

Most founders worry about competitors copying their products.

But sometimes, the business with the easiest opportunity to copy you…

is the manufacturer already making it.

They may know:

🧪 Your formula.

📐 Your measurements and specifications.

🛠️ Your production method.

📦 Your packaging and suppliers.

💰 Your costs and order volume.

They may even know which features customers value most.

Then one day, a remarkably similar product appears.

Different name.

Different packaging.

Same product underneath.

And the manufacturer says:

“We made this version ourselves.”

⚠️ This is why sending a purchase order and signing a basic NDA may not be enough.

Before sharing your product with a manufacturer, agree on:

1️⃣ What information is confidential

Identify the formulas, designs, specifications, files, samples and processes they cannot disclose or reuse.

2️⃣ Who owns the product

State who owns the design, formula, moulds, tooling, packaging and other materials used to make it.

3️⃣ What the manufacturer is allowed to do

Permission to manufacture for you doesn’t automatically mean permission to make similar products for themselves or others.

4️⃣ Whether they can subcontract

You need to know if your files and product information will be shared with another factory.

5️⃣ What happens to extra units

Rejects, overruns and leftover stock should not quietly enter another sales channel.

6️⃣ Who owns improvements

If the manufacturer finds a better way to make the product, decide who can use that improvement.

7️⃣ What happens when the relationship ends

Your moulds, samples, files and confidential information should be returned, destroyed or handled as agreed.

🔐 The manufacturer needs enough information to make your product.

That doesn’t mean they should be free to build a competing business from it.

And don’t wait until the copy appears to ask who owns what.

👉 Drop “MANUFACTURER” for the 7 questions to answer before the factory you hired becomes the competitor you created.

I’m Joyi, your IP bestie. I help founders protect what happens behind the product not only the name printed on the front.

12/10/2026

Not many people know this, but Hup Seng did absolutely nothing wrong here.

11/10/2026

One dangerous assumption in performance marketing is:

“If Google lets us bid on the keyword, it must be legal.”

Hindware discovered that competitors Grohe and Cera had purchased HINDWARE-related keywords on Google Ads.

So when customers searched for Hindware, sponsored links for competing brands could appear.

The trademark didn’t even need to appear visibly inside the advertisement.

Hindware sued the competitors and Google.

The competitors eventually settled.

But Google fought the case.

Google argued that the keyword was only an invisible trigger and that it was just providing an advertising platform.

The Delhi High Court disagreed.

It found that Google was actively suggesting, auctioning and earning money from Hindware’s registered trademark.

Google was ordered to stop using the Hindware marks as advertising keywords and pay ₹30 lakh in damages, approx. RM130,000 plus litigation costs.

Google has appealed, so the final legal position is still being contested.

But the warning for anyone running sponsored search ads is already clear:

⚠️ Google’s advertising policy is not the same as legal permission.

Google’s current policy says it generally does not restrict trademarks used only as keywords.

But trademark law differs between countries and the risk may increase when:

👉🏼 You are bidding on a direct competitor’s distinctive registered trademark.

👉🏼 Your advertisement could confuse customers about who they are buying from.

👉🏼 The ad or landing page suggests a connection that doesn’t exist.

👉🏼 You use automated recommendations or broad-match campaigns without checking which brand searches are triggering your ads.

Before launching a competitor-keyword campaign, check the keywords, search terms, ad copy, landing page and law in every country you are targeting.

And if you own the brand?

Search your own name and look at who is paying to appear around it.

Because you may have spent years creating the demand…

while someone else is paying for the click.

👉 Drop “ADS” before a clever keyword becomes an expensive legal argument.

10/10/2026

Your product is about to get more attention.

More views.

More customers.

More people talking about it.

And that is usually when one more group starts paying attention too:

COPYCATS!

Not because your product suddenly became easier to copy.

Because it finally became worth copying.

The packaging gets noticed.

The name starts sticking.

Customers begin searching for it.

Then someone sees the opportunity and thinks:

“Can I sell something that looks close enough?”

This is why I keep telling founders not to wait until the brand is already moving before checking their trademark protection.

Because by then, the problem is no longer theoretical.

Someone may already be using the name.

Someone may already be listing a similar product.

Someone may already be benefiting from the attention you paid to create.

And one thing founders often misunderstand:

your brand name and your logo are not automatically the same trademark protection.

So “I trademarked already” is not always enough.

The better question is:

What exactly did you protect?

→ Before the campaign launches.

→ Before the product blows up.

→ Before the whole market knows your name.

That is the easier time to find the gap.

Not after the copycats do.

👉 Already selling or preparing to launch and not sure whether your brand is properly protected?

Comment “AUDIT” and we’ll point you in the right direction.

I’m Joyi, your IP bestie. I help founders protect the brand before attention turns it into someone else’s opportunity.

09/10/2026

Vogue is suing a fashion magazine.

Nothing unusual there.

Except this magazine’s models are dogs.

The publication is called DOGUE.

It features dogs dressed and photographed like fashion models, with a name and magazine cover that clearly play on VOGUE.

Cute?

Definitely.

Obviously a joke?

That is what DOGUE says.

But Vogue’s publisher, Condé Nast, isn’t laughing.

It filed a lawsuit against DOGUE’s publisher in the United States, claiming the name, masthead and overall presentation are too close to its famous VOGUE brand.

Now, your first reaction might be:

“Come on. Nobody is going to think Vogue suddenly replaced its supermodels with dogs.”

And that is exactly what makes this case so interesting.

Because saying something is a parody doesn’t automatically end the conversation.

Especially when the joke becomes a business.

DOGUE isn’t merely one funny social media post.

It is the name of a publication.

It has built an audience around that name.

And much of the joke works because people immediately recognise VOGUE inside DOGUE.

That recognition is what attracts attention.

But it is also what created the legal risk.

For founders, this matters because many businesses use names, logos and designs that “playfully” resemble famous brands.

Change one letter.

Copy the visual style.

Add a funny twist.

Then assume it is safe because everyone knows it is a joke.

But if your brand only makes sense because people recognise another brand inside it, you should expect that brand owner to notice too.

And defending the joke may cost more than the small business can afford.

The court has not made a final decision, so Vogue has not yet proven that DOGUE infringed its trademarks.

But the lawsuit itself already creates a serious problem.

DOGUE could spend years and significant money defending the name.

Or it could be forced to walk away from the recognition it has spent years building.

The joke attracted the audience.

Now, the same joke has become part of the evidence.

What do you think?

Is DOGUE an obvious parody?

Or is it building a business using the recognition that VOGUE spent decades creating?

08/10/2026

Before you decide on a name for your business, check these 7 things:

👉🏼 Check SSM to see whether another business is already using the name—but don’t assume SSM approval means you own the trademark.

👉🏼 Search MyIPO for names that look or sound similar, not only names that are exactly the same.

👉🏼 Check whether the name is too descriptive. A name that perfectly explains what you do may be harder to own.

👉🏼 Check whether the domain name and social media handles are still available.

👉🏼 Search the trademark databases of countries you may expand into—not only Malaysia. 🌏

👉🏼 Check whether the name has an awkward or offensive meaning in another language.

👉🏼 Ask friends and target customers to pronounce and spell the name after hearing it once. If they struggle, your customers probably will too.

Your business name shouldn’t only sound good.

It should be easy to remember, able to grow with you—and possible to own.

👉 Drop “SEARCH” before your first branding project becomes your second.

06/10/2026

Most overseas expansion plans begin with the product, distributor and sales target.

The brand name is usually checked last.

But if another business already owns that name in your next market, everything else may have to change.

Going overseas in the next 3–5 years?

Plan where your business is going—and make sure your brand can go with it.

05/10/2026

When you think of a trademark, you probably think of a name.

A logo.

Maybe a slogan.

But India has accepted something you cannot even see.

The smell of roses on tyres.

Yes, tyres.

Sumitomo Rubber Industries applied to protect a rose-like floral fragrance applied to its tyres.

In February 2026, WIPO reported that India had accepted it as the country’s first smell trademark.

So does this mean the company now owns the smell of roses?

No.

It does not own every rose fragrance.

It does not stop florists from selling roses.

And it does not stop perfume companies from making rose-scented perfume.

The protection is connected to that specific smell being used on tyres as a way for customers to recognise where the product comes from.

And that is the bigger lesson.

A trademark is not limited to something customers can see.

It can potentially be something they hear.

A shape they recognise.

A colour they associate with one company.

Or even a smell that reminds them of a particular product.

But protecting a smell is not easy.

It needs to be distinctive.

It cannot merely be a normal or necessary feature of the product.

And it needs to be described clearly enough for people to understand what is being protected.

The rules also differ from country to country.

So India accepting this application does not mean the same smell would automatically be accepted everywhere else.

Still, this case should make founders rethink what makes their brand recognisable.

Most businesses focus entirely on the logo.

But sometimes the strongest part of a brand is not the logo at all.

It may be the sound customers hear when they open your app.

The shape of your packaging.

The way your store smells.

Or another detail customers recognise before they even read your name.

The most valuable part of this trademark cannot be photographed.

So here is a question for you:

If your logo disappeared tomorrow, what else would make customers know the product was yours?

05/10/2026

Are You A Gambler? You Might Be.

04/10/2026

Are you Good at Reading People?

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