The Singapore Ministry of Law
(MinLaw)
has submitted
the Patents (Amendment) Bill
for a first reading in the Singapore Parliament. The proposed changes will
enhance
Singapore’s patent regime by increasing the quality of patents and making it
more
user-friendly, the ministry said.
Two key amendments are being introduced. First, all
patent applications are to be
fully
examined
by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) to
ensure that inventions meet
all of
Singapore’s patentability standards, increasing the quality of patents
and raising confidence in the Singapore patent system. Secondly, inventors will
also
be given greater flexibility in disclosing their inventions before
seeking patent protection.
Specifically:
Closure
of foreign route
Patent applications must be examined by the patent office to ensure
that the invention satisfies patentability requirements before a patent
is granted.
Currently, patent applicants can submit an examination report
issued by a foreign patent office for the invention being considered to expedite their application.
IPOS would
then conduct a simplified examination which does not
cover
key
patentability requirements. This practice of using the "foreign route” can result in patents granted that may not fully satisfy Singapore’s patentability standards.
With the closure of the foreign route, currently planned for 1 January
2020, all patent applications must be fully examined by IPOS.
This
ensures that all granted patents fully satisfy Singapore’s patentability
criteria.
Broadening the grace period provision
An inventor must generally keep his invention
confidential
before
applying for
a patent.
Currently, public disclosures are only disregarded under very narrow
circumstances
–
for example, when the disclosure was in breach of
confidence. Public disclosures outside these narrow circumstances
will lead to the invention being ineligible for patent protection.
The proposed amendments will allow any public disclosure
originating from the inventor
to be disregarded, if it
occurs
within 12
months before the patent application. Hence,
if
inventors disclose
their inventions
during this period,
whether inadvertently or out of
necessity,
they can
still obtain a patent later.
This is in line with
modern business realities where such practices could be necessary.
However, inventors
are strongly encouraged
to continue to avoid
disclosing their inventions before applying for a patent.
As not all
jurisdictions have a similarly broad
grace period
provision, public
disclosures
prior to applying for a patent
could jeopardise patent
protection
in other jurisdictions.
A
public consultation
on the proposed amendments was
conducted by IPOS from
27
October
2016 to
15 November
2016
and received feedback from
the Law Society,
patent agent associations
and
the
Singapore Inventors’ Development Association (SIDA).
