Singapore changes rules for design protection

The Singapore Ministry of Law (MinLaw) has tabled the Registered Designs (Amendment) Bill for first reading in Parliament. The proposed legislative changes will update Singapore’s design protection regime to take into account latest trends in design and technology. It will support the growth of the design industry by making it easier for designers to protect their creative works.

The bill implements the recommendations from the review of Singapore’s registered designs regime conducted by MinLaw and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS). Key features of the Registered Designs (Amendment) Bill include:

(i) Broaden the scope of registrable designs to include:

 Virtual designs of non-physical products that can be projected onto any surface and have useful functions, for example a light-projected keyboard which works like a physical keyboard.

 Colours as a design feature. For example, a new vacuum cleaner shape together with the yellow and black colours of the vacuum cleaner's body can be registered.

In addition, the amendments will clarify that the designs of artisanal or handcrafted items, such as handmade jewellery, can be registered.

(ii) Allow the designer of a commissioned design, rather than the commissioning party, to own the design by default

Currently, where a designer is commissioned to create a design, the commissioning party is the owner of the design. The amendments will instead give the design ownership to the creator by default. This is to highlight the importance of design creation and the valuable contribution of designers. Both parties would still be free to contract otherwise.

(iii) Broaden and lengthen the grace period provision

Currently, a design cannot be validly registered if it has been publicly disclosed before the application date. However, narrow exceptions are provided–a design can be validly registered if the disclosure took plac in very limited circumstances (for example, when the disclosure was in breach of confidence), and the application for design protection was made within six months of the disclosure.

The amendments will broaden the circumstances covered to any disclosure made by the designer, and lengthen the grace period to 12 months. This will enable designers to still obtain design protection if their works were disclosed inadvertently or out of necessity, and is in line with modern business realities where such disclosures could be necessary, and can take place in a wide range of situations.

Singapore provides for design protection under the Registered Designs Act, which was enacted in 2000.  A review of the registered designs regime was conducted from May 2014 to March 2016. The objectives of the review were to support modern business practices while continuing to balance the interests of design creators/owners and users, provide business certainty and ensure that Singapore’s design protection regime is cost-effective. The review included two rounds of public consultation from May to June 2014, and from October to December 2015 respectively. Focus group discussions and one-to-one consultations were also held, including with industry and design associations, businesses, intellectual property practitioners, and academics.

Intellectual property and the law: a seminar by the RHT Academy

RHT Academy and RHTLaw Taylor Wessing are organising Commercial Contracts: Latest Case Law Developments, Negotiation Strategies and Intellectual Property, a half-day seminar slated for 4 March 2015 at the Suntec Convention & Exhibition Centre, Singapore.

Targeted at legal counsel and managers, lawyers, commercial and business development directors, company secretaries, and compliance officers, the seminar is designed to:

• Provide a practical and commercial perspective on the latest key case law developments in commercial contracts in Singapore and the UK;
• Give insights into useful negotiation strategies in strengthening commercial relationships; and
• Highlight intellectual property issues commonly encountered in commercial contracts, including the impact of the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 which became fully operational in July 2014.

A panel discussion and networking lunch with the speakers will be held after the seminar.

Speakers and panellists from RHTLaw Taylor Wessing include Azman Jaafar, Partner – Head of Corporate Practice, Ch’ng Li-Ling, Partner – Deputy Head of Capital Markets Practice, and Jonathan Kok, Partner – Head of Intellectual Property & Technology Practice.

The registration fee is S$288, with the course eligible for Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) relief. Click here to view the agenda, and RSVP here.

Singapore SMEs, startups get government boost for R&D&C

Help for SMEs and startups from the Singapore government for R&D&C continues to grow. The term comes from extending research and development (R&D) all the way to commercialisation (C).

Today, that help includes cash grants, business incubator schemes, and tax incentives, said Lim Chuan Poh, Chairman, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), speaking as the guest of honour at Developer and Global Entrepreneur Day during IBM's XCite event in Singapore.

"At A*STAR, our commercialisation arm, ETPL, supports budding technopreneurs from A*STAR's research institutes who desire to spin off their inventions. In March this year, we also introduced Headstart, a programme which grants royalty-free and exclusive intellectual property licenses for the first 18 months to SMEs that collaborate with A*STAR," he said.

Over the past five years, more than 700 SMEs have undertaken close to 2,200 projects with A*STAR, Lim disclosed, adding that the organisation's licensing policies and terms have been enhanced and simplified to allow more SMEs and startups to benefit from A*STAR's research. 

Besides providing IP to enable the development of new products and services, the government also helps SMEs and start-ups harness technology for business 
improvement. 

"At A*STAR, we facilitate technology adoption and upgrading through a variety of initiatives. For example, our Growing Enterprises through Technology Upgrade or GET-Up Programme includes a scheme that seconds researchers to SMEs to work on innovation projects leading to new products and services. 
In addition, A*STAR’s Technology Adoption Programme (TAP) offers technology 
consultancy to SMEs and subsequently matches them with solution providers," said Lim. 

Lim shared that A*STAR’s TAP team has engaged more than 4,600 
companies and helped more than 650 companies adopt new technologies since 2013. SPRING has invested S$40 million in 2011 to launch sector-specific accelerators to identify, invest and grow startups in areas like medical and clean technology as well.

India boosts intellectual property infrastructure

India's Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the extension of strategies to modernise and strengthen intellectual property (IP) offices during the period of the 12th Plan, which runs from 2012 to 2017. The overall project cost would be Rs309.6 crore*, of which Rs258 crore will be spent during 12th Plan and Rs51.6 crore in the 13th Plan.
The move was driven by the growing importance of intellectual property in a globalised economic environment, India’s accession to the Madrid Protocol in April 2013 and the operationalisation of the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (CGPDTM) as the International Search Authority/International Preliminary Examining Authority (ISA/IPEA) under the Patent Cooperation Treaty from October, 2013.

In the 12th five year plan the focus will be on the enhancement of human resources, upgrading of IT and databases, building construction, improvement of library facilities and awareness building of intellectual property rights.

During the 11th five-year plan, a new complex for IP archives and the TM registry at Ahmedabad were constructed, as was the ISA/IPEA building in New Delhi. An ICT infrastructure was created including a data centre, servers, digitisation of IP records, and e-filing for patents and trademarks.

*10 million.

Asian trademarks in a globalised world

Brands from emerging economies do not have the luxury today of taking decades to establish an international reputation, said panelists during the International Trademark Association's (INTA's) 136th annual meeting, it was reported in a newsletter published by IP Mirror, a domain name registry which also offers cloud hosting services and brand protection.

Source: INTA website.

According to IP Mirror, some of the suggested options for Asian brands focused on global expansion that were discussed at the event in early May in Hong Kong include:

• Adapting localised products for the international market while maintaining trademarks in the new markets.
• Spending more time and money on establishing what the brands represent, as most Asian brand names are likely unheard of, so paying attention to how the mark is presented and what message it invokes is just as important as what name is being registered.
• Buying overseas trademarks to gain access to new channels to market to foreign shoppers, or bringing those brands back home to local consumers seeking established overseas brands. 

"As with any expansion, getting the appropriate localised or regionalised domain names help to secure your online brand in the respective markets," said the company in the newsletter.

INTA separately announced that wage premiums in industries with intensive intellectual property rights (IPR) are significantly higher when compared with other industries: 41% in the European Union* and 42% in the US**.

"Innovation supports millions of jobs worldwide… but only when it is protected by IP rights,” said INTA President Mei-lan Stark (Fox Entertainment Group, US). “Today, the most successful economies, fuelled by the most highly paid workforces, are those in which innovation is encouraged and IP rights are protected.”

INTA coverage on World Intellectual Property Review can be viewed here. New Legal Review did an INTA 2014 roundup here.

*Intellectual property rights intensive industries: contribution to economic performance and employment in the European Union published by the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) and the European Patent Office in 2013.

**IP and the US economy – industries in focus published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2012. published by the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) and the European Patent Office in 2013.