Singapore

Copyright

Copyright is a legal term used to describe exclusive rights granted to authors, artists and other creators for their creations. These rights, generally, include: reproducing, copying, publishing, translating, adapting and altering, distributing, etc. and are granted automatically following the creation of the work.

Types of Copyrights And Its’ Duration of Protection

Literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works

70 years from the end of the year in which the author died. However, if the work is published after the death of the author, it lasts for 70 years from the end of the year in which the work was first published.

Photographs

70 years from the end of the year in which the photograph was first published.

Published editions of literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works

25 years from the end of the year in which the edition was first published.

Sound recordings and films

70 years from the end of the year of release of the sound recording or film.

Broadcasts and cable programmes

50 years from the end of the year of making the broadcast or cable programme.

Performances

70 years from the end of the year of the performance.

For a copyright to be applicable, the work must be original and exist in tangible form such as in writing or as a recording. Ideas or concepts alone are not protected. Copyright does not need to be registered. The author of a work to which copyright applies automatically enjoys copyright protection as soon as the work is expressed in a tangible form.

You do not need to register for copyright protection in Singapore. Copyright is automatically granted as soon as you create and express your original work in a tangible form, such as in a recording or writing.

There are a few things you can do to protect yourself and your original work.:

Include a copyright symbol © on your work, followed by your name, and year the work was first created.

Example: © John Tan 2017

This symbol is a notice of your claim to the work. While it does not give you any substantive right, the use of this symbol could come in useful if you are involved in an infringement proceeding. If the infringement party claims that he did not know the material was protected under copyright law, the use of the symbol would generally stop him from successfully relying on this argument.

Maintain your proof of originality

There are a number of ways you can maintain proof that you are the original author of the work:

Deposit a copy of your work with your lawyers or in a depositor

Send a copy of your work to yourself by post, leaving the envelope unopened so that the date stamp and the unopened work could establish the date of the work’s existence

Make a declaration before a Commissioner of Oath stating the fact of ownership and the date of creation.

However, these are by no means fool proof methods of proving authorship as they do not prove that the work is original or created by the author. In a dispute, the Court will decide whether there is sufficient evidence to prove the authorship.

Designs

A design refers to the features of a shape, configuration, colours, pattern or ornament applied to any article or non-physical product that give that article or non-physical product its appearance. It protects the external appearance of the article or non-physical product.

When you register a design, you protect the external appearance of the article or non-physical product and have the right to control its use.

Singapore follows a ‘‘first-to-file system’’ where the first person to file an application in respect of the design will have priority over others. This means that if a third-party files his/her application on the design before the design owner, any registered design obtained afterwards will be in danger of being revoked for lack of ‘novelty’.

You can also use your registration to protect your market share by barring copying by others, license if to third parties for commercial returns or sell the design for monetary returns.

A design must satisfy the following criteria to qualify for registration:

New – The registered design must not have been registered in Singapore or elsewhere before, or published anywhere in the world before the date of application of the first filing.

The following cannot be registered as a design:

Designs that are contrary to public order or morality

Computer programmes or layout designs of integrated circuits

Designs applied to certain articles; such as wall plaques, medals and medallions, and printed matter primarily of a literary or artistic character (e.g. calendars, certificates, coupons, greeting cards, leaflets, maps, playing cards, postcards, stamps, and similar articles)

Methods or principles of construction

Designs that are solely functional

Designs that are dependent upon the appearance of another article or non-physical product, of which it is intended by the designer to form an integral part or enable the article or non-physical product to be connected to, or placed in, around or against, another article or non-physical product so that either article or non-physical product may perform its function

Period of Protection

Once your design is registered, it will be protected for an initial 5 years from the date of filing. Thereafter, the registration is to be renewed every 5 years, up to 15 years.

Patent

A patent is a right that is granted for an invention. It can take the form of a new product, process or technical improvement to existing technology.

When you register a patent for your invention, you hold the exclusive right to use the patent. This means that no other person can take advantage of that patent, unless your permission is sought.

When your patent portfolio is properly managed, it can present many economic opportunities – whether as a means to develop new and cutting-edge technologies, raise investment, or extract value from third parties through sale or licensing.

Protectable Patents

For an invention to be patentable, it must, in general, satisfy three key criteria

New – The invention should not be publicly known in any way, anywhere in the world. Owners of inventions should be careful to keep the invention secret until a patent application has been successfully made. If the idea has already been talked about, commercially exploited, advertised or demonstrated, then the novelty of the invention may be compromised.

Inventive step – The invention must be an improvement over any existing product or process that is already available. The improvement must not be obvious to someone with technical skills or knowledge in the field of the invention.

Industrial application – The invention must be useful and have some form of practical application. It should be capable of being made or used in some form of industry.

There are two routes of applying for a patent in Singapore – directly with IPOS via domestic route, or through PCT National Phase Entry route.

Domestic route
PCT National Phase Entry route

Domestic Route

Depending on the complexity of the invention, it may take about 2 to 4 years for a patent application to be granted if there are no objections or issues raised by IPOS.

If there are no objections and you follow the specified time limits for actions, a patent can be granted within 12 months from the filing of the application.

Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT) National Phase Entry route

The Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT), administered by the International Bureau of WIPO (IB), is an international treaty to facilitate patent protection for an invention in several countries simultaneously through one application with a single office.

The overall process for registration takes anywhere between one (1) to four (4) years, depending on the search and examination process, which may be an all-local approach, all-foreign approach, or combination approach. The all-foreign approach relies on the search and examination done for the corresponding applications abroad.

Duration of Protection

Patent protections are valid for twenty (20) years from the date of filing, subject to the payment of annual renewal fees starting from the end of the 4th year

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.

Types of Trade Mark

Trademarkis the most common type used to distinguish goods or services;
Collective markis used to distinguish the goods or services offered by members of an association or group of traders from goods or services of those who are non-members of the association;
Certification markis used to distinguish goods or services certified by the mark owner from other non-certified goods or services. The certification may relate to a characteristic of the certified goods or services, such as an indication of the origin, material, quality, mode of manufacture of the goods, or performance of the services.

Registrable marks

Before applying to register your trademark, make sure it meets all the registration criteria. Specifically, a mark must:

Be capable of being represented graphically;
Be capable of distinguishing your goods or services from others;
Not be descriptive of the goods or services, or used customarily in current language or established practices of the trade;
Not be confusingly similar to an existing trademark on the register.

Non – Registrable marks

The following are some common examples of marks that cannot be registered under the trademark laws in Singapore:

Descriptive marks
Marks “common to the trade”
Marks contrary to public policy or morality
Deceptive marks
Marks that could cause confusion

Registration Process

Once the Application has been filed, the Registry of Trade Marks will conduct a formalities check upon receipt of the application. This entails checking that the application meets minimum filing requirements. When the minimum filing requirements are met, a filing date will be allocated to the application. Otherwise, the authorities will send a letter asking the applicant to remedy the deficiencies.

After the application has passed the formalities check stage, Trade Mark Examiners will conduct a search to check if the mark applied for is similar to any trademark that is already registered or has already been applied for by someone else for the same or similar goods or services.

After the searches have been conducted, the application will be examined to determine whether the mark is registrable in accordance with the law. If there is no objection to the application the application will be published for public inspection in the Trade Marks Journal for a period of two months.

If there is no opposition to the registration of a trademark, or if the opposition is resolved in favour of the applicant, the trademark will be registered and a registration certificate will be issued.

Duration of Protection

The duration of a trademark registration is 10 years, and you may maintain registration of the same for a consecutive decade by way of renewal.

Geographical indication

A geographical indication (GI) refers to an indication used in trade to identify a product as originating from a particular territory which has given the product its special quality or reputation. Each product should exhibit a specific quality or reputation which is attributable to the territory from which the product originates.

A geographical indication (GI) gives assurance to consumers that the product they buy comes from a particular place and has the unique characteristics associated with this GI. It differentiates the product identified by the GI from other products that are not labelled with the GI.

An application to register a geographical indication has to minimally fulfil the following criteria:

The application is filed by a person who has an entitlement to file
The indication falls within the meaning of “geographical indication”
The geographical indication identifies goods that fall within any of the prescribed categories of goods
The geographical indication is not contrary to public policy or morality
The geographical indication is protected in its country or territory of origin
The geographical indication is not identical to the common name of any goods in Singapore
The geographical indication does not contain the name of a plant variety or an animal breed such that it is likely to mislead the consumer as to the true origin of the product
The geographical indication is not identical with or similar to, and has the same geographical origin as, an earlier geographical indication
The geographical indication is not identical with or similar to an earlier trade mark

There are three (3) stages to before your GI is Registered with Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS):

application stage;
examination stage; and
publication/pregrant opposition

Similar to the current trade mark registration process, a GI will proceed to registration where no opposition is received by the end of the publication/pre-grant opposition period, or where the opposition has been decided in favour of the applicant. Prior to registration, the applicant should conduct a search analysis to determine the likelihood of the GI being opposed.

Period of Protection

Once a geographical indication is registered, it will be protected for 10 years. The registration may be renewed upon its expiry.

Once a GI is registered in Singapore, the producers or traders (or associations of such producers/traders) of the GI may take action against other persons who misuse the GI in Singapore, such as using the GI in relation to products that did not originate in the place indicated by the GI in a way that misleads the public as to the geographical origin of the products.