Updates on Singapore patent practice
Following a series of public consultations and discussions, the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) has confirmed that a formal procedure for the submission of “third party observations” will be launched, under which members of the public will be able to notify IPOS of information that may be relevant to the patentability of an invention during the examination stage of a pending patent application. Furthermore, IPOS has launched a new procedure in which members of the public can request a re-examination of a previously awarded patent.
The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) was ranked as the most innovative IP office in the world, an achievement largely due to the efforts of former chief executive Daren Tang in transform the organization from a regulatory registry into an innovation agency.
A formal procedure for the submission of “third party observations” in Singapore
This express lane is for applications that are being filed in Singapore for the first time and have 20 or fewer claims – although currently the office is only capable of granting five of these expedited requests per month and applicants Applications are limited to 10 claims per year. In addition, they have also changed some procedures for 3rd parties in intellectual property law.
Third party observations
The submission for the third party observations must be done through IPOS’ online platform at https://ip2sg.ipos.gov.sg/) (the IP2SG platform). Any interested party must log in using their CorpPass or SingPass (i.e. the standard digital identity for individuals and corporations to access any Singapore government agency portal). The interested party will subsequently be able to submit their submission via the IP2SG platform. The interested party may include any information relevant to the patentability of an invention in their submission (e.g. with regard to the novelty or inventive step of the invention). The submission is completely free of charge. If the interested party desires to remain anonymous, they may retain the services of a patent agent, who will submit the application on their behalf.
Re-examination option for registered patents
Furthermore, IPOS will introduce a re-examination option for previously awarded patents. A patentee or any third party may request re-examination of a patent at any time after it has been granted. This alternative, however, is confined to situations in which the validity of the patent is not being disputed before the Registrar of Patents or the courts.
Such a re-examination procedure may be commenced by the patentee itself in the event that it would like to re-examine the validity of its own patent, or if it would like to amend its patent during the course of the re-examination procedure.
In addition, a third party, or a patent agent acting on his behalf, may initiate this re-examination procedure against a previously awarded patent. Because re-examination is an ex parte procedure, the third party filing the request or its representative will not be participating in the re-examination procedure once the request is submitted. Instead, if the Registrar accepts the request, a senior examiner will be assigned to the case to review the objections, and the patentee will be notified of the re-examination request. Following that, the patentee will be invited to file a written response to the re-examination request with the Registrar.
Finally, once all the submissions have been completed, a re-examination report is issued with further information on next steps that are required by the patentee, if any.
Previously, in the event that a patent is potentially invalid, the only option to remedy the same was to engage in a lengthy and expensive revocation process. It is anticipated that the amendments above would be a welcome change to patent proprietors and the general public alike.
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– You could visit here to see Procedure of Singapore Trademark Registration.
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– You could check how to register trademark in Singapore here.
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