Singapore
| Legal Basis |
|
| Major international treaties signed |
|
| Costs of obtaining a patent | Please contact us at singapore@mirandah.com |
| Average time to obtain a patent | 12 – 24 months from PCT national phase entry, 42 – 54 months from priority date for Paris Convention applications |
| Official language for patent prosecution | English |
| Non-patentable subject matter |
|
| Grace period for prior disclosure or sale | 12 months |
| Major prosecution events | Following the filing date – or earliest claimed priority date – whichever is the earlier:
Request for Search: 13 months National Phase Entry: 30 months Request for Search and/or Examination: 36 months Payment of Grant Fees: 54 months Renewals: On the fifth anniversary of filing, and each succeeding anniversary thereafter |
| Filing and prosecution procedures | Stage 1: Filing
Stage 2: Formality Examination Stage 3: Publication Stage 4: Substantive Examination Stage 5: Grant Stage 6: Renewal/ Annuity |
| Extension of office action deadlines | Non-extendible |
| Necessary document for filing | None, if the application has already been published by WIPO and is in English. Otherwise, verified English translations of the specifications and the translator’s declaration of accuracy is required. |
| Pharmaceutical Data Exclusivity Laws | Available |
| Search and Examination | Local examination of patents is not compulsory. Search and examination reports established in other countries or during PCT international phase can be relied upon for the purpose of patent grant in Singapore |
| Opposition term | Not available |
| Term of patent protection | 20 years |
| Patent term extension | Available |
| Restoration of lapsed patent | Within 18 months from the day it ceased to have effect |
| Parallel Imports | Available |
| Other forms of patents (e.g. Petty/innovation patents) | Not available |
| Useful links | Patent Agents and Attorneys in Singapore www.ipos.gov.sg |
| Infringement offence | Civil and Criminal (in special cases) |
| Specialised courts for IP | No |
| Outline of the enforcement steps | Notice of Cease and Desist Infringement lawsuit |
| Relief against groundless threats | Available |
| Declaration of non-infringement | Available |
| Preliminary injunctions | Available |
| Time frame for various legal actions | Revocation – 1 to 2 years Infringement proceeding – 2 to 3 years |
| Alternative dispute resolution | Mediation Arbitration |
| Availability of damages and other relief for infringement | Injunction Delivery Up Damages Account of profits |
| Civil remedies | As per above |
| Criminal Sanctions | Not Available |
In Singapore, a patent application shall proceed to grant based on the allowed/granted claims in either: a corresponding application, a corresponding international application, or a related national phase application. However, we do not recommend this option, as this may result in a weak patent.
After filing a request for supplementary examination, local examiners will examine only a limited number of prescribed matters, e.g. the relatedness of the Singapore claims to the granted claims of the corresponding application. There is no further substantive examination to be conducted.
Consequently, the application will be allowed based on the examination report conducted in a country, which may have a different examination practice with Singapore. This will therefore increase the burden on the applicant to establish the validity of the claims in later proceedings. A good example to this is the currently revoked claims of Singapore Patent No. 51905 (claims 1-13 of this patent have been found to be invalid due to insufficient disclosure and lack of inventive step). These shortcomings have been acknowledged by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore and in fact, this option will be removed in 2020.
|
Year |
Applications |
Granted |
|
Domestic |
Foreign |
Total |
Domestic |
Foreign |
Total |
|
| 2003 | 626 | 7248 | 7874 | 175 | 4242 | 4417 |
| 2004 | 641 | 7944 | 8585 | 400 | 5576 | 5976 |
| 2005 | 569 | 8036 | 8605 | 555 | 6975 | 7530 |
| 2006 | 626 | 8538 | 9165 | 438 | 6955 | 7393 |
| 2007 | 696 | 9255 | 9951 | 469 | 7009 | 7478 |
| 2008 | 793 | 8899 | 9692 | 501 | 5785 | 6286 |
| 2009 | 750 | 7986 | 8736 | 473 | 5136 | 5609 |
| 2010 | 895 | 8878 | 9773 | 369 | 4073 | 4442 |
| 2011 | 1056 | 8738 | 9794 | 484 | 5465 | 5949 |
| 2012 | 1081 | 8604 | 9685 | 410 | 5223 | 5633 |
| 2013 | 1143 | 8579 | 9722 | 393 | 5182 | 5575 |
| 2014 | 1303 | 9009 | 10312 | 402 | 5136 | 5538 |
| 2015 | 1469 | 9345 | 10814 | 446 | 6608 | 7054 |
Source: WIPO