The Malaysia Patent Office recently announced amendments to the Patents Act and Regulations, taking effect from 18 March 2022. Highlights of the key amendments are set out as follows: 1. New Section giving effect to Budapest Treaty A new section is introduced to the Patents Act and Regulations giving effect to the Budapest Treaty. The deposit […]
Revisiting long-established concepts on independent and dependent patent claims in Singapore
The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore has recently announced in its newsletter dated August 14, 2019, that the current practice of examining independent and dependent claims as provided in the Examination Guidelines for Patent Applications (April 2019 version) continues to be in force. This newsletter has been circulated in the light of feedback received by […]
Indonesia – Patent Working Requirement
Since 26 August 2016, all patent holders are obliged to “work” their patented invention in Indonesia, by either manufacturing their patented products or using their patented processes within 36 months from the date the patent is granted – article 20 of Law No 13 2016 on patents (‘the new law’). There are consequences for not […]
New Ministerial Regulations in Indonesia
The Ministry of Law and Human Rights (“MOLHR”) ratified the MOLHR Regulation No. 38 of 2018 concerning Applications for Patents (“Regulations”) on 28 December 2018. These Regulations were issued to clarify the provisions of the Patents Law No. 13 of 2016, in particular, Articles 29, 32, 33 (3), 42, 43 (3), 56 and 61 (5). […]
Myanmar: New Patent Law
Myanmar’s Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Law No. 7/2019 (“Patent Law”) was approved on 11 March 2019; implementation is still pending. It follows the Trademark and Industrial Design Laws which were approved on 30 January 2019. Under the old patent registration system, Myanmar has no intellectual property laws or legal framework for filing and prosecuting patent applications. The […]
SINGAPORE: New Intellectual Property Bill Heralds Significant Reform to IP Landscape
Legislative amendments bringing broad-ranging reform to the intellectual property (IP) regime in Singapore were tabled before lawmakers in early July 2019, following public consultations in July 2017 and August 2018. At present, IP disputes are heard in multiple fora including the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), the Singapore State Courts, or the High Court […]
Singapore – Post-grant Patent Amendments Refused in Hitachi Case
In a recently decided case, Singapore Shipping Association and Association of Singapore Marine Industries v Hitachi, Ltd. and Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. [2019] SGIPOS 5, the Registrar of Patents of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) refused post-grant amendments to the claims of Singapore Patent No. 159788 under Section 83(1) of the Patents Act, […]
Singapore – IPOS Accelerates Grants of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Patent Applications
The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (“IPOS”) launched an Accelerated Initiative for an Artificial Intelligence (“AI2”) programme that became effective on 26 April 2019. This AI2 programme speeds up the file-to-grant process for Artificial Intelligence (“AI”)-related patent applications to merely 6 months instead of the usual 2 to 3 years. According to IPOS, the AI2 […]
Indonesia’s Unique Policy on Payment of Annual Patent Fees
The rules regarding payment of patent annual fees in Indonesia can be said to be rather unique and controversial. Since around year 2013, the Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DGIP) has been aggressively chasing patent owners for their unpaid annual fees even though their patents have been abandoned or deemed “void by law”. The DGIP […]
Marijuana Patent Requests Suspended in Thailand
A special executive order was issued by the Thai government on 28th January 2019 directing the Department of Intellectual Property (“DIP”) to invalidate all pending marijuana-related patents applications within 90 days. This comes less than 3 months after the Thai National Legislative Assembly (“NLA”) approved the “Medical Marijuana” bill to be used for medical and […]