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| Singapore Trademark Registration Made Easy |
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| Written by Simon Rogove |
| Thursday, 24 July 2008 19:39 |
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The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), a statutory board under the Ministry of Law handles trademark registration in the city state. An individual desiring to register his trade mark may either apply directly to the Registrar or authorize a trade mark agent to act on his behalf. Any trade mark in Singapore must be symbolised in graphic form. It must be a sign of some sort, represented by any letter, word, name, signature, number, device, brand, heading, label, ticket, shape, colour and aspect of packaging, either by itself or in any combination using these symbols. Singapore trade mark laws differ from those in countries such as the United States in that you need not provide evidence of use to register a trade mark. Prospective applicants for trademark registration are advised to consult the records of the Singapore Registry of Trademarks and Patents before filing their own applications. Whether conducted at the IPOS office or online at the eTradeMarks section of the Web site, this search allows prospective applicants to be certain that there exist no prior trademarks represented by a symbol identical or similar to what they intend to use. This is an especially crucial consideration if a similar previously-registered trademark is found in same area of business as the applicant. 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. Once the IPOS has received the trademark application, the office will conduct an administrative review to verify that the application is complete and compliant with the provisions of the Trademarks Act, as well as all necessary fees having been already paid. When these conditions are met, a trademark application number will be provided, along with the date for filing. During the review process, the Registry may object to your trade mark sign for whatever reason and ask you to make corrections within a certain period of time. You should fulfill the Registry's request, or respond accordingly, before the deadline otherwise your application is deemed to have been withdrawn. Afterwards, the Registry Office will conduct their own formal search for conflicting trademarks, geographical names, and conformity to the standards of international classification for goods and services. If pharmaceutical products are being registered, the Registry of Trademarks will also verify whether the mark consists of a protected International Non-Proprietary Name (INN). Furnished by the World Health Organization, INNs are generic names for specific pharmaceutical substances. 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. Once your sign fulfills Singapore Trade Mark Laws, you move on to the final stage, which is to publish your mark for public consumption. You will be notified that your mark is accepted for registration before it is published in the Trade Marks Journal. This gives members of the public a chance to object if they believe your design is identical or similar to a mark that is already registered or pending. Any member of the public has the right to object within two months of publication. Should there be any objections, you can try to have the issue resolved. If the resolution works in your favour and the two months have passed with no further problems, you are free to register your trade mark. You will be issued with a registration certificate and you can use the trade mark freely in corporate paraphernalia. About the Author: Checkout GuideMeSingapore for up-to-date information about Singapore trademark act and Singapore trademark registration guidelines. Kindly provided by LJ-Marketing.dk You are welcome to use this article on your own website, if you include the link just before this text. |
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