Guide To Registering A Trademark In Singapore

by: SimonRogove
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To register a trade mark in Singapore, you need to approach the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), which is a statutory body under the umbrella of the Ministry of Law. You can either go straight to the Registrar or appoint a trade mark agent, possibly a lawyer, to apply for you.

For a trademark to be registered in Singapore, it should be possible to represent it as a graphic. Such a sign could take the form of a letter, a word, a name, a signature, a numeral, a device, a brand, a heading, a label, a ticket, a shape, a colour, an element of packaging, or any combination of these. Singapore trademark law does not require evidence of use to be filed as part of the application process before the trademark registration is granted. This is in contrast to practices in other countries like the United States.

Your main concern when filing any trade mark design is that no one else had already registered a sign that is identical or similar to yours. This is particularly pertinent when it comes to the nature of your business activities. You should perform a thorough search of trade mark signs that are already filed with the Singapore Registry of Trade Marks and available for public scrutiny at the IPOS office or via the eTradeMarks website online.

Once you are satisfied that your trade mark does not conflict with anyone else's, you can submit your application. Manual submissions, which cost S$340, can be made either by hand or sent via registered post to the Singapore Registry of Trade Marks. You can also apply online using the IPOS eTradeMarks system at a cost of S$310.

Once the IPOS has received the trademark application, the office will conduct an administrative review to verify that the application is complete and compliant with the provisions of the Trademarks Act, as well as all necessary fees having been already paid. When these conditions are met, a trademark application number will be provided, along with the date for filing.

During the review process, the Registry may object to your trade mark sign for whatever reason and ask you to make corrections within a certain period of time. You should fulfill the Registry's request, or respond accordingly, before the deadline otherwise your application is deemed to have been withdrawn.

A formal search for conflicting marks, geographical names and conformance to the international classification of goods and services will be conducted by the Registry Office. For pharmaceutical products, the Registry of Trade Marks will also check whether the marks consists of a protected International Non-Proprietary Name (INN), which are generic names for specific pharmaceutical substances furnished by the World Health Organization.

After completion of the trademark conflict discovery process, the examiner will check if the mark is registrable in accordance with Singapore Trademark Laws and that it does not fall into areas not allowed by law like a mark that is devoid of any distinctive character. The applicant will again be notified for any objections and the time granted to resolve such objections.

Once your sign fulfills Singapore Trade Mark Laws, you move on to the final stage, which is to publish your mark for public consumption. You will be notified that your mark is accepted for registration before it is published in the Trade Marks Journal. This gives members of the public a chance to object if they believe your design is identical or similar to a mark that is already registered or pending. Any member of the public has the right to object within two months of publication.

The trademark will be registered and a registration certificate will be issued to the applicant if there are no further objections or all objections were resolved in favor of the applicant.

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