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.
| Legal Basis |
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| Major international treaties signed |
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| 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 |
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| 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 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 patent applications having a filing date on or after 1 January 2020 is compulsory. |
| 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 |
The supplementary examination route, which allowed applicants to obtain a patent expeditiously by relying on positive substantive examination results of an international application or a corresponding allowed/granted foreign patent application, has been removed for patent applications having a filing date of 1 January 2020. All patent applications in Singapore with a filing date on or after 1 January 2020 will, therefore, need to undergo local examination. The objective of this change is to ensure the consistent quality of patents granted in Singapore.
| Legal Basis | Trade Marks Act (Cap. 332, Revised Edition 2005) (Amended as of 10th June 2016)
Trade Marks (Composition of Offences) Regulations (Cap. 332, RG 1) Trade Marks Rules (Cap. 332, R 1) Trade Marks (Border Enforcement Measures) Rules (Cap. 332, R 2) Trade Marks (International Registration) Rules (Cap. 332, R 3) Application of Section 75 to Foreign States (Cap. 332, N 2) Trade Marks (Application of Section 75 to Foreign States) Notification (Cap. 332, N 3) |
| Major international treaties signed |
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| Costs of registering a trademark | Please contact us at singapore@mirandah.com |
| Average time to register a trademark | 6 to 8 months |
| Official language for trademark prosecution | English |
| Registrable marks | Any sign (including any letter, word, name, signature, numeral, device, brand, heading, label, ticket, shape, colour, aspect of packaging or any combination thereof) capable of being represented graphically and which is capable of distinguishing goods or services dealt with or provided in the course of trade by a person from goods or services so dealt with or provided by any other person |
| Filing and prosecution procedures | Stage 1: Filing Stage 2: Examination Stage 3: Publication Stage 4: Opposition (if any) Stage 5: Registration Stage 6: Renewal |
| Number of classes | 45 (10th Edition of the Nice Classification) |
| Multiple class filing | Available |
| Filing of series marks | Available |
| Necessary document for filing | None |
| Common objections | Descriptiveness Non-distinctiveness Prior conflicting rights |
| Extension of office action deadlines | Available |
| Opposition term | 2 months (extendible) |
| Term of trademark protection | 10 years (renewable) |
| Restoration of lapsed trade mark | Within 6 months from the date of the removal of the trademark from the register |
| Parallel Imports | Available |
| Parallel Imports | Available |
| Minimum period of use to avoid non-use cancellation action | 5 years of continuous use from the date of completion of registration formatlities, or from the date of last use. |
| Useful links | Trademark Agents and Attorneys in Singapore www.ipos.gov.sg |
| Infringement offence | Available |
| Specialised courts for IP | Not available. Be that as it may, the knowledge and competence level of the IP Registry and the specialist IP judges of the Supreme Court are extremely high. |
| Outline of the enforcement steps | Infringement Passing-off |
| Relief against groundless threats | A declaration that the threats are unjustifiable An injunction against the continuance of the threats Damages in respect of any loss sustained by the threats |
| Declaration of non-infringement | Available |
| Preliminary injunctions | Available |
| Time frame for various legal actions | Approximately 12 months (subject to the factual matrix of the case) |
| Alternative dispute resolution | Mediation Arbitration |
| Availability of damages and other relief for infringement | As per below |
| Civil Remedies | Injunction Damages Account of profits |
| Criminal Sanctions | Trade Description Order Monetary fines or imprisonment or bothBorder Measure Prohibition of importation; seizure; detention; forfeiture of counterfeit trademark goods |
Singapore's IP landscape?
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