Singapore IP Hub Tan Yih San, Chief Executive, IPOS January 2014 1
Singapore (Quick Facts) Land area: 716.1 sq km Vibrant global city: 5.3 million people with 1.6 million foreigners 2012 Nominal GDP: S$346 billion (~US$277 billion) A financial, legal, R&D, licensing hub Out-licensing receipts 2012: 167 billion yen In-licensing payments 2012: 1.72 trillion yen Sources: Singapore Statistics; WorldBank 2
ASEAN Patent Exam Co-operation (ASPEC) The first regional patent work-sharing initiative by 9 AMS IP Offices initiated by Singapore Reduce complexity, achieve time savings and improve quality of search and exam Expedited processes at any participating AMS IP Offices from the time of filing an ASPEC request until grant Operates in the English language in all participating AMS IP Offices; no translation verification required One Common Request Form Unicharm made history as being the first ASPEC applicant Filed with SG as First Office of Filing Application accepted by Vietnam within a quick turnaround time of 7 days Substantive examination request was advanced out-of-turn 3
Singapore as a Gateway to ASEAN United States United Kingdom Germany WIPO Denmark Austria Hungary EU-SG FTA China Russia Korea Japan Mexico ASEAN Patent Examination Cooperation (ASPEC) Patent Prosecution Highways (PPH) -SIPO, KIPO, JPO, USPTO, IMPI Brazil Patent Cooperation Treaty Patent Prosecution Highways Trans-Pacific Partnership FTA India ASEAN Patent Examination Cooperation (ASPEC) BRIC Patent Cooperation Treaty (WIPO-SG) EU-Singapore FTA Trans-Pacific Partnership FTA Examiners from Denmark, Austria, Hungary 4
PPH vs ASPEC Examination Process PPH Expedited ASPEC Framework Bilateral (2 Offices) Plurilateral (9 AMS) Request Model First/Second Office Filing Earlier/Later Office Filing Working Language Application Prosecution Time-Savings Subject to the agreement between the 2 Offices English Subject to the backlog experienced by the partnering Offices and whether there are established systems to 'pull out' the requests for acceleration Cost-Savings Save prosecution cost with lesser Office Actions Save prosecution cost with lesser Office Actions + translation cost
In-house Patent Search & Examination capability Developed in-house patent search and examination (S&E) capabilities in key technological areas Undergone training by EPO and JPO Operational in May 2013; mostly PHDs and competent in examining patent documents in Chinese Current staff strength of 40 examiners and will continue to recruit 6
Enhancements to Singapore s IP Regime In February 2014, IPOS will move from a self-assessment patent system to a new positive grant patent system so as to raise the overall quality patents granted Internationalised the patent agent sector to allow foreign-registered patent agents to undertake offshore work in Singapore Streamline and harmonise the IP Registries processes at IPOS to enable businesses and applicants to enjoy greater efficiencies and cost savings
IP Week@SG 2014 Coming Up Tentatively end-august; 3 rd edition of IP Week@SG Theme: IP @The Marketplace IP Management for C-Suite IP financing, strategy & management Inaugural World Patent Symposium Patent exploitation and portfolio management 8
THANK YOU Website: www.ipos.gov.sg Contact: international@ipos.gov.sg 9