In a continuing effort to encourage patent applicants to utilise the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) programme to expedite the patent examination process in Singapore, Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) previously launched an initiative in 2025 under which applicants would receive a refund  of up to 30% of the prevailing examination fees upon filing a PPH request  between 15 September 2025 to 31 December 2027 (both date inclusive).

While the refund initiative has been well-received by the applicants, the refund process has proven to be somewhat cumbersome. In response to feedback from the applicants and service providers requesting for a simpler payment mechanism, IPOS announced a streamlined payment process through Circular No. 2/2026 passed on 10 June 2026. Under this new process, applicants may pay the discounted examination fee at the time of filing a PPH request concurrently with the examination request, rather than paying the full examination fee upfront and receiving a refund after acceptance of the PPH request.

This simplified payment process applies to new examination requests filed from 3 August 2026 to 31 December 2027 (both date inclusive). Applicants who filed a PPH request before 3 August 2026 continue to be eligible to receive 30% refund of the examination fee.

For easy reference, the discounted examination fees applicable to new examination requests filed concurrently with a PPH request on or after 3 August 2026 and by 31 December 2027 is set out below:

In addition to the simplified payment process, IPOS will also endeavour to issue a first office action within six (6) months for applications filed with a PPH request on or after 1 July 2026. This represents a significant improvement over the previous target of ten (10) months for applications prosecuted under the PPH programme, The shortened examination timeline further enhances the attractiveness of the PPH programme, allowing applicants to obtain examination results on a quicker basis without incurring additional acceleration fee.

Furthermore, applicants may benefit from the PPH programs through:

1. An increased likelihood of obtaining a patent grant (94% grant rate in Singapore); and
2. Fewer office actions, with approximately 70% of patents being granted after first office action).

It is also possible to request participation in the PPH programme after an examination request has already been filed, provided that substantive examination has not yet commenced.  If the examiner considers that aligning the claims with allowable foreign claims would facilitate the prosecution, IPOS may issue an invitation to amend, allowing the applicant to submit the necessary PPH documentation and corresponding claim amendments.

The introduction of the simplified payment mechanism and shortened timeline for examiner to issue the first office action under the PPH programme demonstrates IPOS’s continuing commitment to encouraging the use of the PPH programme and enhancing the efficiency of patent prosecution process in Singapore. Applicants with corresponding applications that have received positive examination overseas may wish to consider leveraging the PPH programme to benefit from both reduced examination costs and accelerated examination timelines.