Significant Changes in the Singapore Patent Law

SINGAPORE - The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore announced that the legislative changes on the current Singapore patent law will come into force on February 14, 2014. The revised new law will apply to any national phase applications initiated on or after February 14, 2014 even if the filing date of the PCT application is before that day.

The most relevant changes are outlined as follows:

- Positive Grant System
- Request for Substantive Examination
- Request for Supplementary Examination
- Notice of Intention to Refuse
- Request to Review Examination Report
- Related National Phase Application
- Notice of Eligibility to Proceed to Grant
- Grant Fee Payment
- Voluntary Amendment
- Post Grant Search and Examination

It is worth mentioning that these changes are in line with Singapore’s intention to move to a high quality and robust patent system. The effect of this is that some of the requirements patent applicants and their representatives must fulfill are of a higher standard.