Singapore is a sovereign island city-state in Southeast Asia. The country is situated one degree (137 kilometers or 85 miles) north of the equator, at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, with Indonesia’s Riau Islands to the south and Peninsular Malaysia to the north.
Singapore’s territory consists of one main island along with 62 other islets. In recent years, the number of enterprise established in Singapore is increasing rapidly, which created a lot of opportunity for many individuals, organization. Therefore, if you are planning to business in singapore, you should consider registering your brand – trademark in singapore. That’s because trademark identity is critical for the success of an enterprise in singapore, and if you want your trademark to be protected under singapore law, you must register them. Hereinafter, we shall consult you about the procedure of trademark registration in Singapore.
1. What is a Trademark?
What is a Trademark?
A trademark is a letter, word, name, signature, numeral, device, brand, heading, label, shape, colour, an aspect of packaging or a combination of these, which is used in the course of a business or trade to distinguish a person’s goods or services from those of others.
Why should you register a Trademark?
Because, The register trademark has a vairiety of the main benefits include:
– Right to exclusive usage of the mark
– Preventing others from copying it
– Benefiting from the increasing market value of the mark
– Quality assurance for your customers
– Buiding Brand through mark recognition
– Grant license for commercial use by third parties thus creating a source of revenue
– Up to 400% tax rebates from the Singapore Government under the Productivity and Innovation Credit Scheme to offset costs you incur for registering your Trade Mark.
2. Singapore Trademark Registration
The steps involved in Registration are as follows:
Step 1: Creating a distinctive Trademark
We advise that you should design a trademark which has distinction. Avoid trademarks that:
– Denote the kind, quality, quantity, intended purpose, value, the time of production of goods or of rendering of services;
– Consist of common surnames or geographical names;
– Conflict with an earlier trade mark; or
– Mislead the public about the nature of the goods or services.
However, if you have an existing Trademark which you have been using in other jurisdictions but which are likely to violate any of the conditions above, you can prove that the mark is being used for a substantial time and has gained a market recognition.
Step 2: Identification of Applicable Class of Goods/Services
The scope of a trademark registration is determined by the goods or services relate to which the trademark is registered. Singapore follows the International Classification of Goods and Services as prescribed by the Nice Agreement to classify trademarks.
Step 3: Application filing
The minimum filing requirements consist of:
– A statement that you request a registration.
– Your name and address.
– A clear graphical representation of your mark. For marks comprising of a three-dimensional shape of the goods or packaging, line drawings should clearly show all dimensions of the mark.
– A list of goods and services that you are registering relate to the mark (that are classified in accordance with the International Classification of Goods and Services).
– A declaration of your proposed use of the trade mark.
Step 4: Review by Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS)
Once the trademark application has been received, IPOS will review it to ensure that the application meets the minimum filing requirements.
Once the minimum filing requirements are met, the date of filing is accorded and a Trade Mark number is issued. This information is sent via the Acknowledgment letter.
If one or more of the minimum filing requirements are not met, a Deficiency Letter will be sent to remedy within 2 months from the date of Letter. This timeline is not extendible.
In the event that the applicant does not remedy the deficiencies or remedies the deficiencies out of time, IPOS will send a Letter notifying the applicant that the application is Deemed Never to Have Been Made.
Step 5: Examination for conflicts with existing trademarks and Legality
After the above step is complete, the registrar will conduct a formal search for conflicting marks, geographical names and conformance to the international classification of goods and services.
The application will be examined to determine whether the mark is registrable in accordance with Singapore Trademark Laws.
If the requirements are not satisfied, IPOS will issue a letter stating the refusals/requirements. The response must be submitted within 4 months from the date of issuance of the IPOS letter. If additional time is required to respond to the IPOS letter, request for an extension of time before the expiry of the time period needs to be submitted. If no response or request for an extension of time is received within the stipulated time period, the Trade Mark will be treated as Withdrawn.
Step 6: Advertisement for public scrutiny
After successful completion of the above step, the application will be published and provide available to the public. Within 2 months of the publication period, any interested party will be able to oppose the registration of the mark.
If the trademarks office receives an objection from an opponent, the applicant will be notified and must respond. A decision on the application will be made after hearing both parties.
Step 7: Successful registration
If there is no opposition, or if the outcome of the opposition hearing is in favour of you, a Certificate of Registration would be issued and the Trade Mark would be granted protection for 10 years.
Above is the trademark registration procedure in Singapore, if you want to register or need assistance, please contact us. With many years of experience and a team of experienced employees in the field of intellectual property, A&S LAW believe we can help you.