The Singapore High Court recently considered the allowability of post-grant amendments in the judgement of Ship’s Equipment Centre Bremen GmbH v Fuji Trading (Singapore) Pte Ltd [2015] SGHC 159.

This case is a stark reminder that post-grant patent amendments in Singapore remain discretionary, in contrast to the changes to the UK Patents Law introduced by the Patents Act 2004 and in consideration of EPC 2000.

The Patentee had applied to amend a Singapore patent in line with amendments made to the corresponding European Patent during Opposition Proceedings at the EPO. The European Patent was revoked for lack of inventive step during Opposition, but an Appeal was pending at the EPO when the application to amend in Singapore was made.

The Judge found that the action to seek amendment before the European Appeal was concluded was an apparent “volte-face”, which indicated that the Patentee was likely to have been doubtful of the validity of the patent. This, combined with the delay of two years in applying to amend in Singapore, led the Judge to refuse the amendment, on the basis of undue delay and the seeking of an unfair advantage.

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