The Singapore Patents Act has been amended by the Patents (Amendment) Act 2012. The amendments are expected to come into force on 14 February 2014.
Singapore Intellectual Property Blog
Major Changes to the Singapore Patents Act
Patents (Amendment) Act 2012 Commencement Date Announced
We received an email from the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore yesterday, telling us that the Patents (Amendment) Act 2012 will have a commencement date of 14 February 2014.
Supplementary Examination Under the Amended Singapore Patents Act
Update: we have posted a new blog post discussing the issues surrounding supplementary examination.
The Singapore Patents Act as amended introduces a supplementary examination procedure. If an applicant wishes to rely on the prosecution to grant of a foreign corresponding application, there is now a requirement for supplementary examination to be requested.
The purpose of the supplementary examination is to establish whether there is claim correspondence between the Singapore application and the foreign corresponding application. Supplementary examination also ensures that the corresponding claims in the foreign application have been examined for novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability.
Bad News...but Perhaps All For the Better
Recently, we received an email enquiry from a foreign company along these lines:
“We are business from [foreign country] and have recently started business in Singapore.
We are using unique displays in our shops to display our goods. The displays have been designed by us, and we have placed them at our outlets in Singapore.
Before somebody copies our displays, we would like to apply for patent in Singapore.”
Changing Inventor or Applicant Details in a PCT Patent Application
This post gives a recommended procedure for making changes to inventor or applicant details of a PCT application.
TL;DR - do this centrally at WIPO under Rule 92.bis.
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