Recent amendments to Singapore Trademark Act

In order to comply with its obligations under the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks administered by the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO), a set of amendments were introduced by Singapore that came into effect on July 2, 2007. This will benefit both the national and regional trade mark administration authorities and is intended to simplify and streamline procedures as well as reduce transaction costs associated with trademark applications.

This article provides a summary of the amendments that were made to the trademark act of Singapore in 2007. For an overall guide to the trademark act and trademark registration procedure in Singapore, see Guide to Singapore trademark act and registration procedure.

Multi-class Trademark Applications

With the new amendment, a single application for trade mark registration in Singapore can now cover several classes of applicable goods or services. However note that there is no change in the official filing or renewal fees, which remain chargeable on a per-class basis.

Division of Trademark Applications

An applicant may now request for a Singapore trademark application filed on or after 2 July 2007 to be divided into 2 or more separate applications. This change will help trade mark applicants whose applications face opposition or objection at the examination stage or opposition by third parties after publication. In such cases, a division might expedite trade mark registration as appropriate.

Licence Registration for Pending Trademark Applications

An applicant can register a licence relating to a pending Singapore trademark application.They will no longer need to wait for the completion of the registration of the trademark application in order to to apply for the recordal of a trade mark licence.

Relief Measures for Procedural Oversight

The amendment provides for relief measures to alleviate procedural mistakes by trademark applicants, notably missed time limits. The relief measures provide the avenue for a Singapore trademark applicant to maintain the rights in an application that has been filed, even when time limits have been missed.