Singapore’s International Property Rights Index has risen and the country has achieved a 2nd ranking in the Asia and Oceania region and a 4th ranking worldwide for the year 2019.
International Property Rights Index (IPRI)
The IPRI is an index that measures the status of property rights globally. The IPRI score is indicative of the strength of a country’s property rights regime based on the following three core components: legal and political environment (LP), physical property rights (PPR), and intellectual property rights (IPR). The IPRI comprises ten sub-components under the core components. The LP has four sub-components, namely: (i) Judicial Independence, (ii) Rule of Law, (iii) Political Stability, and (iv) Control of Corruption. The PPR has three sub-components: (i) Protection of Physical Property Rights, (ii) Registering Property, and (iii) Ease of Access to Loans. Lastly, the IPR has three sub-components: (i) Protection of Intellectual Property Rights, (ii) Patent Protection, and (iii) Copyright Piracy.
The IPRI was developed by the Washington-based Property Rights Alliance (PRA) to serve as a ‘barometer’ for a status of property rights worldwide. The yearly edition of IPRI is produced by the Hernando de Soto fellowship instituted by the PRA.
The 2019 IPRI ranking covers one hundred and twenty nine (129) countries, representing 93.83% of the world’s population and 97.72% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Singapore’s IPRI Statistics 2019
Singapore’s LP component gathered the following scores in its sub-components: 7.799 in Judicial Independence, 8.645 in Rule of Law, 8.325 in Political Stability, and 9.266 in Control of Corruption.
Her PR component indicated the following scores in its sub-components: 8.895 in Protection of Physical Property Rights, 9.819 in Registering Property, and 7.421 in Ease of Access to Loans.
Her IPR component has the following scores in its sub-components: 8.776 in Protection of Intellectual Property Rights, 8.416 in Patent Protection, and 7.300 in Copyright Piracy.
Overall, Singapore’s IPRI scores for the core components are as follows: 8.509 in LP, 8.712 in PPR, and 8.164 in IPR. Although the PPR component decreased slightly by 0.010 from the previous year, the LP and IPR component increased by 0.068 and 0.112 respectively.
Initiatives
It is notable that recently, the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) has launched numerous initiatives to boost Singapore’s role as an IP hub as well as to fuel economic growth for Singapore and in the region.
For instance, IPOS International was launched to provide advisory services for businesses having IP/intangible assets. Other examples of the initiatives include the ASPEC Acceleration for Industry 4.0 Infrastructure and Manufacturing (ASPEC-AIM), the Patent Cooperation Treaty ASPEC (PCT-ASPEC), the Accelerated Initiative for Artificial Intelligence – all of which aimed at expediting grant of patents.
IPOS also signed various Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) and partnership agreements with six (6) other nations aimed at collaboration and commercialization of IP.
Conclusion
Singapore’s IPRI ranking and scores are illustrative of the country’s effort and commitment to her vision of becoming a Smart Nation, boosted by the various other initiatives, which incidentally also helps drive Singapore’s role as an IP hub.