Modified Substantive Examination

Question:
If an applicant selects Modified Substantive Examination but the examination of all of his corresponding applications in Australia, Japan, Korea, Europe, and the US is not completed by the 63-month deadline in Malaysia, can the applicant somehow obtain more time in Malaysia (perhaps, by filing a divisional application)?

Answer:
Should an applicant wish to file a request for modified substantive examination but the examination of corresponding applications in the prescribed patent offices (AU, JP, KR, EP, UK, US) is not available at the expiration of the 63-month deadline, the applicant will not be able to obtain any further extension as the applicant must instead file a request for substantive examination to prevent the application from being deemed withdrawn.

The Malaysian Patents Acts requires that a request for full or modified substantive examination must be filed at the time of filing divisional application(s). Therefore, this approach will not be able to provide the applicant with more time as a request for modified examination must be filed at the time of filing the divisional application(s).