Claim legal ownership of your invention. We can assist you with securing a patent for a new product, design, plant, or utility (machine or process) that has never been patented before.
Singapore is a regional leader in Intellectual Property protection. IPOS is one of the fastest examining IP offices around the world, with various programmes that can achieve grant within six to 12 months of filing patent in Singapore. Singapore has recently moved away from allowing applicants to simply rely on allowed claims of foreign applications and instead introduced a system in which all applications are substantively examined under local law. As a result, applicants filing in Singapore can obtain granted rights quickly and with considerable confidence that these are strong and enforceable.
In Singapore, patents are governed by the Patents Act, and the Intellectual Property of Singapore (IPOS) is the national authority responsible for the administration of patent law in Singapore. This IP protection is an exclusive right granted for an invention, i.e. a product or a process that provides, in general, a new way of doing something or offers a new technical solution to a problem.
Obtaining a patent is a very powerful protection that guarantees that his invention cannot be used by someone else for 20 years.
If someone decides to protect his invention by a patent, even if it is possible to file a patent himself, to be sure to meet all the criteria of patentability, it is strongly recommended to call a lawyer who is familiar with the language and procedure of applications.
How a patent will protect your invention?
When you register a patent for your invention, if you obtain a grant certification, it gives you the exclusive right to use the IP protection. This means that no other person can use or profit from your invention unless you give them permission to do so. This also applies if another party later comes up with a similar invention without knowing about the previous inventions protected by a patent.
Once your certificate is granted, it will be protected for 20 years from the filing date.
What makes an invention patentable?
According to section 13 of the Patents Act, an invention is patentable when it meets the following three conditions:
➤ It must be new
➤ It involves an inventive step
➤ It is susceptible to industrial application
To be patentable, the invention must not encourage offensive, immoral or antisocial behavior. A method of treating the human or animal body by surgery, therapy, or diagnosis practiced on the human or animal body is not patentable.
A) Novelty
Novelty is defined in Section 14 of the Patent Act as follows: “An invention is considered new if it is not part of state of the art”.
Prior art means that prior to the priority date, the invention is not part of a prior patent and has not been made available to the public anywhere in the world by written or oral description, by use, or in any other way. The priority date refers to the date of the first application of the certificate. The priority date allows us to determine whether another IP certificate filing or publicly available document containing the same invention can be considered as prior art to your application.
But there is an exception to section 14 (4) if the invention was made public within the last 12 months before the application under the following circumstances:
➤ The disclosure was due to or was made as a result of, the unlawful obtaining or abuse of trust by any person
➤ The disclosure was made in breach of confidentiality by any person who obtained the material in confidence from the inventor or from any other person to whom it was made available or who obtained it from the inventor
➤ The disclosure is due to the fact that the inventor has presented the invention at an international exhibition or has been made as a result of such presentation
➤ The disclosure is due to the fact that the inventor describes the invention in a paper read by the inventor or by another person with the inventor's consent or on his behalf before a learned society or published with the inventor's consent in the proceedings of a learned society
B) Inventive step
According to Article 15, an inventive step means that the invention is “not obvious to a person skilled in the art, having regard to everything that is part of state of the art”.
C) Industrial application
According to article 16: “an invention shall be considered industrially applicable if it can be made or used in any type of industry, including agriculture”.
How to apply for a patent?
The applicant must verify that the conditions of patentability are met and that he is entitled to register the certificate.
The persons entitled to file a patent are:
➤ The employer if the invention was made by his employee in the normal course of his duties
➤ A person who has entered into an agreement with the inventor before making the invention
➤ The inventor
Next, the applicant must submit the application to the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) via the IP2SG platform, which must include:
➤ A description of the invention, including any reference drawings
➤ A list of claims that describes the scope of the patent protection
➤ This includes what the invention does and what others are prohibited from doing when the patent is granted
➤ An abstract which is a summary of the invention
➤ The identity of the applicant
➤ An address to which IPOS can send correspondence
The procedure for registering can be divided into eight steps:
1. Verification of the patentability criteria
2. Application for a patent at the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS)
3. Preliminary examination by IPOS (if all the requirements are met, the applicant will receive a filing date)
4. Publication of the invention
5. Search and examination (this step will allow examiners to determine if the patentability criteria are met)
6. Receive notice of eligibility for issuance (if there are no unresolved objections after the examination process)
7. Apply for issuance of the certificate of issuance (within two months of receiving the notice of eligibility for issuance)
8. The applicant receives the IPOS grant certificate, and the invention is protected
Legal right and action?
When you receive the IPOS grant certificate for your invention, you are protected of any infringement.
Under the Section 66 of the Patents Act, a patent is infringed if:
➤ Where the invention is a product, the person makes, disposes of, offers to dispose of, uses or imports the product or keeps it whether for disposal or otherwise.
➤ Where the invention is a process, the person uses the process or the person offers it for use in Singapore when the person knows, or it is obvious to a reasonable person in the circumstances, that its use without the consent of the proprietor would be an infringement of the patent.
➤ Where the invention is a process, the person disposes of, offers to dispose of, uses or imports any product obtained directly by means of that process or keeps any such product whether for disposal or otherwise.
If the owner can establish an infringement, he can engage a civil action and under the Section 67 (1) of the Patents Act allows a claim can be made for:
➤ An injunction restraining the defendant from any apprehended act of infringement
➤ An order for the defendant to deliver up or destroy any patented product in relation to which the patent is infringed or any article in which that product is inextricably comprised or any material and implement the predominant use of which has been in the creation of the infringing product
➤ Damages in respect of the infringement
➤ An account of the profits derived by the defendant from the infringement
➤ A declaration that the patent is valid and has been infringed by the defendant
Do you need a lawyer?
While it is possible to file a patent in Singapore yourself, it is recommended to engage a specialized lawyer who is familiar with the language and procedure of applications, as well as with the legal effects of filing an IP protection. This will improve the chances of success at each stage of the application.
And if your patent is infringed, a lawyer would help you to initiate a civil action to protect it.
How long does it takes to obtain a grant certification?
The estimated time for a classic application is at least 24 months, or even more, depending on the complexity of the invention.
But two acceleration programs exist:
➤ The 12 Months File-to-Grant program allows applicants to obtain the grant of a Singaporean patent within 12 months of applying, subject to meeting certain conditions.
➤ The SG IP Fast Track Program ("SG IP FAST") is a pilot program that started on September 1, 2020 and will end on April 29, 2022. Previously known as the SG Patent Fast Track program, the program has been expanded to include the expediting of trademark and design applications filed. It allows applicants to receive the certificate of issuance in just six months for various types of intellectual property.
How much a patent will cost you?
The estimated cost for registering a patent is at least S$2,310. Thereafter, for the first four years, there is no renewal fee. After that, the renewal fee increases according to the length of time the patent is held. The 5th to 7th years have a fee of $140 per year, and this annual fee increases every three years until it reaches $970 for the 20th year of renewal. The patent lapses if the annual renewal fee is not paid within six months of its expiration.
How to protect your patent abroad?
Even if there is no treaty between ASEAN country, Singapore is a member of the Patent Co-operation treaty (PCT).
This treaty allows you to make an international application within 12 months of the filing date of the Singapore application and be granted your patent in up to 153 jurisdictions. This international application may be made via IPOS or directly to the World Intellectual Property Organization.
IP protection is territorial in nature. This means that if you wish to protect your patent in a country other than Singapore, you must also file an application in that country.
To obtain patent protection abroad, you can either:
➤ Individual File applications in the relevant countries.
➤ Use the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), which helps applicants obtain international patent protection for their inventions, assists patent offices in making their patent grant decisions, and facilitates public access to a wealth of technical information about those inventions. By filing a single international patent application under the PCT, applicants can simultaneously seek protection for an invention in a large number of countries.
It is important to note that under Section 34 of the Patent Act, a Singapore resident must obtain written permission from IPOS before filing a patent application outside Singapore for national security reasons.
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