IPOS International (“IPOSI”), the expertise and enterprise engagement arm of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with Japan’s Industrial Property Cooperation Center (IPCC).

The MOU envisages providing enhanced patent search and analytical capabilities in both the Japanese and Chinese languages to benefit enterprises in Japan and Singapore to tap on the patent search and analytical resources of both countries to better protect and commercialize their intellectual property (IP) for business growth.

Since its launch in August 2019, IPOSI has been actively building up and expanding its network. The expanded network includes partnerships with neighbouring countries and large economies such as China and Russia, just to name a few. Key highlights of the partnerships are set out below:

Laos
IPOS and Laos are collaborating in 2 broad areas whereby IPOS extends its search and examination capabilities to the intellectual property office of Laos in the granting of patents, while Laos will accept the re-registration of granted Singapore patents in Laos.

China
IPOSI is partnering with the Suzhou Industrial Park Administrative Committee to jointly develop initiatives and training programmes for Chinese companies in the areas of managing, protecting and commercializing the intellectual property overseas. IPOSI on the other hand, will serve as a bridge linking Chinese enterprises to Singapore professional service companies, and vice versa.

Russia
IPOSI has also formed a tripartite partnership with a Russian venture capital fund and Sport & Fashion Management Pte Ltd (SFM), a global enterprise for innovative sportswear materials, to create a platform for technology transfer between both countries, and to grow and scale the business locally and internationally.

IPOSI’s collaboration with Japan, China and Russia is a welcome development for the IP community as these countries are considered to be key players in global patenting, comprising about 62% of the total patent applications filed globally for the year 2018 alone.

Through the various initiatives, IPOSI aims to promote enterprise growth and bring value to innovative companies which are seeking to scale-up and develop globally, and help Singapore become a base for these companies to expand its network worldwide.