The Intellectual Property (Amendment) Bill 2021 ("Bill") was passed in Parliament on 12 January 2022. The Bill makes changes to a number of Intellectual Property ("IP") statutes, seeking to create a more efficient and business-friendly IP registration system in Singapore. The Bill makes changes to the Patents Act, the Trade Marks Act, the Registered Designs Act, the Plant Varieties Protection Act and the Geographical Indications Act 2014.
The Bill follows an earlier public consultation by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore ("IPOS") held from July to August 2021. The changes in the Bill are in line with the Singapore IP Strategy 2030, which seeks to strengthen Singapore's position as a global hub for intangible assets ("IA") and IP, and to attract and grow innovative enterprises using IA and IP.
The changes are directed at effecting improvements across three broad categories:
- Enhanced business-friendliness. To improve business-friendliness of the IPOS system, the Bill introduces changes which seek to improve the experience of applicants seeking to register their IP.
- Operational efficiency. The Bill seeks to improve operational efficiency and includes key amendments to IPOS' internal processes.
- Enhanced legislative and procedural clarity. The Bill introduces certain changes that seek to clarify the law and smoothen IPOS' administration of the IP prosecution process.
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