Article Advise

submitted: Jun 21st 2008 | by: SimonRogove | Total views: 1 | Word Count: 591 | |

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.

Unlike in other countries, the Singapore trademarks regime does not require the filing of evidence of use before a trade mark registration is granted. However, the trade mark has to be capable of being represented graphically like any letter, word, name, signature, numeral, device, brand, heading, label, ticket, shape, colour, aspect of packaging or a combination of these.

Applicants are encouraged to conduct a research of existing trademarks to ensure that there is no prior similar or identical trade mark in the records of the Singapore Registry of Trade Marks. The search can be conducted at the IPOS office or online at eTradeMarks.

Upon verifying that no prior trademarks exist that may conflict with the one being applied for, the applicant may already submit the completed trademark registration application to the Singapore Registry of Trademarks and Patents. Options for doing so include by hand, by registered post, or by filing online through the eTrademarks system. Filing fees for registering trademarks under each class is S$340 for manual processing and S$310 for online processing.

The IPOS will then conduct an administrative review of the trademark application to ensure that it is complete, that it complies with the provisions of the Trade Marks Act, and that the necessary fees have been paid. Afterwards it will issue a trademark application number and date of filing to the applicant.

The applicant will be notified by the Registry if there is any ground for objection, including the corrections required and the specified period of time granted given him to overcome the objection. The application is considered withdrawn if the applicant fails to respond to the notice within the period granted.

The next step is for the Registry Office to mount an extensive search for similar or conflicting trademarks. They will also review geographical names and ensure your sign conforms to the international classification of goods and services. If your sign represents pharmaceutical products, the Registry would make further investigations. They would check if your mark breaches the World Health Organisation's INN (International Non-Proprietary Name) list, which provides common names for pharmaceutical products.

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.

If the trademark is shown to be in compliance with Singapore law, the applicant will be informed that the application for registration has been accepted. This acceptance will be published in the Singapore Trademarks Journal to allow any parties wishing to oppose the registration process two months to file their claim. Examples of valid grounds for opposition of a trademark application include the situation where the application is similar to a registered or a pending trademark, and other similar cases.

If no objections were made against the application in the allotted two months, or if all objections that are raised end up resolved in the applicant's favor, the trademark will finally be declared as registered. The applicant will be given a registration certificate attesting to the successful process of registering a trademark in Singapore.

About the Author

Before starting business in Singapore, make sure you read about Singapore business guide and Singapore trade mark registration procedures.

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