Changes to the Singapore Intellectual Property Process and Fees

In accordance with the Intellectual Property (Amendment) Act 2022, which was enacted by Parliament on January 12, 2022, IPOS will implement procedural and fee amendments for patents, trademarks, registered designs, and plant variety protection. On April 29, 2022, the legislative changes and official fee adjustments were set to take effect. The implementation date of these amendments has been postponed until May 26, 2022, according to a recent notice by IPOS.

IPOS will also launch IPOS Digital Hub, a new Intellectual Property (IP) filing system that will replace the existing IP2SG e-services platform. The new IP filing system will be live on June 2, 2022, rather than the previously announced date of May 4, 2022.

The most significant changes

English translation of patents Publication: For international applications, applicants will no longer be required to submit paperwork or pay a fee for the publication of the English translation. Within the specified time frame, IPOS will automatically publish the English translation. This will apply to international applications submitted on or after May 26, 2022, to the Singapore national phase.

If the Examiner believes small adjustments will allow the application to go to grant, he or she can issue an “invitation to amend” within a two-month timeframe during the examination.

The Examiner may give a written opinion if the modest adjustments do not remedy the stated problem or if the Applicant refuses to reply to the “request to modify.” All patent applications whose substantive examination has not been accomplished by May 26, 2022, will be subject to the following procedure.

If a sequence is disclosed in a patent application, a sequence listing must be submitted. The sequence listing must correspond to the current World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”) Standard. This is applicable to international applications filed on or after May 26, 2022.

Trademarks’ New Partial Acceptance Method: For national trademark applications, a new partial acceptance mechanism will allow claimed goods/services that have not been challenged to continue to registration. This will apply to applications for national trademarks filed on or after May 26, 2022.

Applicants will have two months after their trademark application is considered withdrawn to request that it be processed further. Trademark applications that are considered Withdrawn (or objectionable goods/services in the case of partially objectionable applications) will continue to be cited by the Registrar against similar or identical trademarks with later filing dates or priority dates during the period of continued processing. This will be the case for trademark applications that are considered withdrawn on or after May 26, 2022.

Changes to the Registered Designs Process: Articles and non-physical goods The present Registered Designs Act’s definitions of “article” and “non-physical product” do not include “sets of articles and non-physical products.” Registered design applications for collections of publications and non-physical items will be permitted. On or after May 26, 2022, this will apply to all pending and new applications for sets of articles and non-physical products.

Applicants and registered owners will be able to voluntarily waive their rights to certain features given by a registered design. This will apply to any design registration applications or registrations submitted on or after May 26, 2022, for which a disclaimer is sought.

The time frame for requesting the reinstatement of an application, right, or thing that has been abrogated or ceased to be in force or exist (as the case may be) has been shortened from six to two months. This will apply to any application, right, or thing that is Considered as Withdrawn, or that has been abrogated or ceased to exist on or after May 26, 2022.

Rights to Plant Varieties Information, documentation, or propagation materials are provided: It will no longer be necessary to submit candidate variety propagating material to IPOS for examination. Only when the Registrar or Examiner requests it, will propagating material be required.

The Examiner may also extend the deadline for submitting requested information, documents, or propagating material for inspection.

Late payment of annual fee: Six months after the anniversary of the granting of protection, proprietors will be permitted to pay their yearly fees late. This will apply to applications where the yearly fee reminder letter is delivered on or after May 26, 2022.

*** Other Articles***

– You could visit here to see Procedure of Singapore Trademark Registration.

– You could visit here to check the required documents for filing trademark in Singapore

– You can also check the Fee of Trademark In Singapore here.

–  You could check how to register trademark in Singapore here.

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