Singapore

Overview

Singapore boasts of a strong and enforceable intellectual property (IP) framework. In fact, its IP regime is consistently recognized as one of the best in the world: Singapore was ranked fourth in the world and top in Asia for having the best IP protection in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2015/2016. Similarly, it was ranked top in Asia for its IP environment in the U.S. Global Intellectual Property Center’s International IP Index 2016. It was also ranked as the most innovative nation in the world on the Innovation Input Sub-Index of the Global Innovation Index 2016.

In 2015, Singapore commenced operation as ASEAN’s first International Patent Search and Examination Authority under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). Singapore is the fifth of such in Asia (after China, India, Japan and Korea) and joins a select group of 19 IP offices worldwide that have been appointed as International Searching Authority (ISA) and International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) for the PCT.

Given the various local and international cooperative efforts to maximize the country’s IP capabilities, Singapore stands to be an excellent IP application destination for business owners and innovators wishing to register their IP rights.

Singapore’s famously efficient bureaucracy makes for some of the swiftest turnaround periods for customers wishing to register IPRs in the region – typically, for example, a trade mark without any opposition can expect to be registered from first filing in just 4 to 6 months.

Above all, Singapore strives to provide businesses and clients with quality IP protection and continues to build a reputable IP ecosystem that is recognized not just regionally, but globally.

Development of Singapore’s IP Enforcement

Singapore’s IP laws are administered by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), a statutory board under the Ministry of Law. The Intellectual Property Rights Branch of the Police is responsible for territorial enforcement, whilst Singapore Customs – together with the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority – are responsible for border enforcement of IP rights.

Over the past few years, Singapore has strengthened its border enforcement measures through the lodgement of notice system and the ex-officio approach. Under the notice system, the rights owner can lodge a formal complaint to Singapore Customs to detain a particular shipment, whereas border officials, having ex-officio authority, can detain suspected goods without the need for a formal complaint.