◎ Specification of the patent application

◎ Priority Details (If Applicable)

◎ Request Form (Patents Form 1)

◎ Statement of Inventorship (Patents Form 8)

◎ Request for Search and Examination (Patents Form 11)

◎ Related information of applicants and inventors

◎ File directly under the Paris Convention within 12 months from the earliest priority date;

◎ File via PCT national phase entry within 30 months from the earliest priority date.

◎ English is the mandated official language for Singaporean patent applications. Submitting an application in any other foreign language is strictly prohibited. Post-filing translation is also unacceptable.

Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)

◎ PPH is a work-sharing program that provides accelerated examination of a patent application by referencing examination results from another IP office. IPOS has PPH pilot programs with multiple foreign IP offices, including the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI), the European Patent Office (EPO), the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP), and the National Institute of Industrial Property of France (INPI France). Additionally, IPOS is also a participating office in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway (GPPH) network, which includes the Japan Patent Office, the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Korean Intellectual Property Office, and the German Patent and Trademark Office, among over 27 participating offices.

◎ To use PPH, applicants must submit a PPH request before IPOS has started examination. If amendments are required for the PPH request and examination has not begun, IPOS will issue an invitation to amend (ITA).

Domestic Acceleration Programme

◎ Since May 1, 2020, the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) launched the SG Patent Fast Track program to support the acceleration of patent applications in all technology fields. The program was later expanded on September 1, 2020, to allow applicants with an accelerated patent application under this program to also request acceleration of their related trademark and registered design applications. The program was renamed SG IP FAST. The program will be available until December 31, 2024, and the request for acceleration will be free of charge.

◎ The accelerated timelines for different types of IP are as follows:

(1) Straightforward patent applications can be granted in as fast as 6 months. Non-straightforward patent applications can be granted in as fast as 9 months.

(2) Straightforward trademark applications can be registered in as fast as 3 months. Non-straightforward trademark applications can be registered in as fast as 6 months.

(3) Registered design applications can be registered in as fast as 1 month.

◎ SG IP FAST is available for patent applications filed for all inventions across all technology sectors. There is a cap of 10 patent applications per month, with a further cap of 2 patent applications per entity (individual or corporate) under SG IP FAST. The cap will be reset on the first day of each month. There is no cap on the number of trademark and registered design applications that can be accelerated.

Regional Acceleration Programme

◎ ASEAN Patent Examination Co-operation (ASPEC): Launched on June 15, 2009, it is a regional patent work-sharing program among the IP offices of 9 participating ASEAN Member States, including Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Applicants can use the search and examination (S&E) reports from participating IP offices to accelerate the patenting process in any of the other participating IP offices.

◎ Since August 27, 2019, two new features have been added under ASPEC:

(1) ASPEC AIM: A committed turnaround time of 6 months to receive the first office action if an ASPEC request is made for Industry 4.0 patent applications.

(2) PCT-ASPEC: An additional option to rely on Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) reports issued by an ASEAN International Searching Authority/International Preliminary Examining Authority (ISA/IPEA).

◎ Protection of the inventions as utility models in Singapore is not possible.

◎ Application Form (Form D3)

◎ Priority Details (If Applicable)

◎ Statement of Novelty

◎ Representation(s) of the Design

◎ Associated Design (If Any)

◎ Related information of applicants and inventors

◎ Entry is possible through the Paris Convention or the Hague Agreement extension. The deadline for filing an industrial design application claiming priority in Singapore is 6 months from the date of priority. The restoration of this term is not possible.

◎ You can submit up to 10 views of the design, and each view must be shown in a separate image file. The image files should be in JPEG format, less than 1 megabyte in size, and have a file name without spaces or special characters. The views must not include any dimensional markings, descriptive words, or any parts of the design, nor should they contain any trademark material.

◎ If claiming convention priority from an earlier design application filed in a Paris Convention or World Trade Organization member country, provide details of the filing date, serial number, and country of the earlier filing.

◎ In Singapore, there is a grace period for novelty with respect to design patents. According to the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), if a design has been publicly disclosed prior to the filing of a design application, it may still be eligible for registration within a 12-month grace period from the date of disclosure, as per the amendments made to the Registered Designs Act effective from 30 October 2017. This means that as long as the application for design registration is filed within 12 months of the initial public disclosure, the design can be considered for registration.

◎ However, it is important to note that not all countries offer such grace periods for design applications. If you intend to seek design protection internationally, the earlier disclosure could mean that the design is no longer considered novel and may not qualify for protection in countries without a grace period provision.

◎ To summarize, when preparing for a Singaporean design patent application, you should keep the design confidential until the initial application for design registration has been filed to maximize the potential for obtaining design protection both domestically and internationally. If there is a need to disclose the design to others before filing, it is advisable to enter into confidentiality agreements.