Phye Keat is a seasoned practitioner in corporate, commercial, ICT (Information and Communications Technology) and intellectual property laws, having handled a broad spectrum of corporate and commercial transactions including those in respect of joint ventures, manufacturing, telecommunications, computer contracts, information technology, licensing, franchising, foreign investment, immigration, sale of goods, construction, privatisation and infrastructure (including the first light rail transit project in Malaysia, STAR).

In the ICT field, Phye Keat has done considerable work, in particular pertaining to the MSC flagship applications including the Government multipurpose smart card and the smart school projects. Phye Keat also has expertise in mobile related matters, including mobile content agreements and licensing of software relating to mobile banking.

Phye Keat was one of the founding members of the Malaysian Intellectual Property Association (MIPA) and is its immediate Past President. On the international front, Phye Keat is a Past President of the ASEAN Intellectual Property Association.

Recently, Phye Keat has been focusing on competition law as a new niche of his practice. He led  the task force set up by the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce that interacted with the Malaysian Government on the drafting of the Competition Bill. Since the Competition Act came into force in 2012, Phye Keat has been very active in helping various clients become compliant with the Competition Act.

In 2010, Phye Keat was appointed by the Minister of International Trade and Industry to sit (and continues to do so) on the Malaysia-Singapore Business Council, a private sector body entrusted to facilitate trade and exchange of commerce between the two countries.

With the recent amendments to the Malaysian anti-corruption legislation introducing corporate liability for companies in which “associated persons” are found to have given bribes, Phye Keat has also been active in advising companies on implementing adequate procedures to prevent corruption, which is the only defence to such an offence.

Phye Keat has been listed as a Leading Individual by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific for 2017 – 2022 and as a top-ranked Band 1 Leading Individual for Competition/Antitrust by Chambers Asia Pacific for 2015, 2016, 2019 – 2023. AsiaLaw Profiles named him as a Market-leading Lawyer for the years 2012, 2013, 2017-2019, as a Distinguished Practitioner for Competition/Antitrust and Corporate & M/A in its 2020 edition and as an Elite Practitioner for Competition/Antitrust in its 2021 – 2023 editions (in addition, the 2023 edition gave him the same ranking for Intellectual Property). He has been included in “The A List – Malaysia’s Top 100 Lawyers” for 2021 and 2022 by Asia Business Law Journal.

TERTIARY QUALIFICATION

• Bachelor of Laws (Hons) (University of Malaya)
• Master of Laws (University of Malaya)

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATION & MEMBERSHIP

• Admitted to the Malaysian Bar on 14 March 1987
• Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya
• Registered Patent Agent (Malaysia) since 1995
• Registered Trademark Agent (Malaysia) since 1997
• Registered Industrial Designs Agent (Malaysia) since 1999
• Council Member of the Asian Patent Attorneys Association
• International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Malaysia National Group –
  • Chairman of the Executive Committee
  • Chairman of the Commercial Law & Practice Sub-Committee
  • Chairman of the Competition Law Sub-Committee
• Member of the Board of Examiners of Patent Agents in the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia
• Chairman of the Intellectual Property Rights Committee of the EU-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce & Industry
• Member of the Malaysia-Singapore Business Council-