In recent years we have witnessed how world economies shifted their priorities in terms of what primarily fuels their growth. The service industry is nowadays flourishing, thus gradually dethroning the manufacturing industry from its position as the primary driver of strong and robust economies. (more…)
When you intend to set up a business and become one of the successful registered companies in Singapore, there are certain essential factors that have to be understood and considered. It is advised that a professional agency is engaged for this purpose. The most common type is the private limited company, which is the main focus of this piece.
The first step involves the approval of the name. File an application with the Company Registrar. As a guide to have a quick name approval, it should not be identical or too similar to any one of the current local company names.
It should not also come into conflict with any existing trademark. Additionally, make sure that it is not yet reserved and that it isn’t in anyway offensive.
The names of registered companies in Singapore will be reserved for 60 days starting on the date of the application. But this can be extended for another 60 days by making the request not later than the expiry date.
Step two is the company registration itself. Private limited liability registered companies in Singapore that have gone through this phase paid about SGD300 to the Registrar of Companies.
This can be finished in as quickly as a few hours only provided that the incorporation documents have been signed by all directors and shareholders. However, delays sometimes happen in cases where the signatories involved are of different nationalities.
The Certificate of Incorporation is usually emailed which is considered official already. This is so because a hard copy version is no longer needed. However, a hard copy can still be availed of via an online request to be made to the Company Registrar following the incorporation process. The document can be picked up from the office of the registrar a day after payment of SGD50 is made.
On the other hand, registered companies in Singapore can get hold of their business profile via an online arrangement also with the Company Registrar. The document can already be downloaded 1 hour after the online request has been made.
Why do you need to enlist your brand name or logo with your intellectual property office? There are important reasons for having a registered trademark, and all are for you and your business’ advantage.
The common perception is that the process itself is a luxury, and only big businesses can afford it. This is because aside from the cost of the registration per brand or mark, you can add to this expense the legal fees that come with it.
However, these notions will prove to be very wrong later on. True, there are high costs involved when you do protect your brand or mark, but the benefits greatly outweigh the price.
A registered trademark means that you have already done a thorough search on your business name and gained protection for it. This further signifies that whatever you have spent on in relation with your business, like marketing printed collaterals and advertising and promotion endeavors, can never be put to waste. This is so because you’ve already gained the right to use it freely.
If, however, no search and protection was done for it, then you’ll have to change it and make drastic spending in terms of altering your stationery, print, TV and radio materials, if any.
When you have this, no one can ever hold you liable for any infringement contentions with regard to your business name or logo. If someone contests that yours is very identical or similar to his or her name or mark, showing proof that yours is a registered one is adequate to refute the allegation.
Someday, you may decide to give up your business and offer it up for grabs to the public. The fact is that there are buyers, who, at the same time, are serious business owners already. It is not unusual for them to ask and check if your business name is properly protected and free from any liability. They naturally would not want to take a risk on something that might face legal conflicts in the future.
Allotting budget for Singapore patent cost means that you are getting exclusive rights over your invention. This entails qualifying for certain criteria based on its novelty, ingenuity and function. Know the requirements and how you can benefit from it.
When you apply for exclusive rights on your invention, take note of and prepare these important documents and credentials:
(1) Name and address of the applicant (place of incorporation for companies); (2) Name, address and citizenship of the inventor/s; (3) Title of invention, Abstract of the invention or design; (4) Specifications of the invention with English translation; (5) Claims; (6) Formal drawings; (7) Inventor’s declaration; (8) Certified priority document with priority number and country of origin; and (9) Power of attorney.
When you apply for this and get granted, other entities are prohibited from using your invention, creation or discovery in any way. In addition, as the owner, you can use it to raise funds for different other business.
As the owner of the grant for which you paid Singapore patent cost, only you have the exclusive rights to exploit it. This goes to say that no other person can make use of it without your prior approval. Moreover, you are given the right to sell or gain from it commercially. These benefits are in force within the country where the patent exists.
You have monopoly over your patented invention. Should anyone use it without your knowledge, or if a competitor enters the industry and produces products that contain your actual design or having similar aspects, he or she shall be liable to legal actions which you may undertake.
Singapore patent cost may come with a huge price tag, but safeguarding your invention will be worthwhile. It serves to attract investors who would like to put your discovery on a commercial level, with them knowing that there will be no competition for a certain period of time.
If you are planning to put up a business of your own and already have a name in mind for it, you might want to consider doing a trademark search Singapore intellectual property (IP) agencies offer.
It is highly recommended that you first do a thorough or comprehensive trademark search analysis to be sure that your proposed name is still available and free from possible disputes.
Business experts would suggest that you do this first before using a specific name, logo or any brand in the market, which also applies to a mark, name or phrase. It helps to know if your intended name or mark is already being used by another entity.
When you avail of this service for your business or product, you become fully aware whether or not your preferred brand name or logo is in commerce already. Simply going out into the market carrying the name of another existing business may put you or your business in an awful light as you may be violating the rights of the original owner of that name.
Going through the process steers you clear of infringement law suits from the original mark name owners. Ultimately, checking on its viability before launching it will give you that peace of mind.
You also prevent losses from your end in terms of time and money invested, both short and long term. This is because with the knowledge that there’s already some entity using your intended brand name or logo, then you know you should not spend anymore on marketing or brand building expenses for it.
Probably, the only drawback in the process is the cost involved, more so if it is done more than once. This, however, should not be the case because the benefits totally outweigh the expenses incurred.
The cost for trademark search Singapore IP firms offer will certainly prove to be favorable. The reason is that you get to avoid would be legal fees as a result of lawsuits hadn’t you gone through the said crucial process.
Maybe you have spent quite some time coming up with the most apt brand name for your product or service. Or you might have exerted a lot of creativity just to let that brightest idea pop out. You might have consulted most of your friends, colleagues and the experts as to how to call your new endeavor. The next best step is doing a trademarks search.
It informs you of the availability of your intended brand name or mark not only in your local market, but in other commercial areas you want to penetrate too.
It would certainly be freeing to know that your choice of name or logo for your business has not yet been used by anyone yet. This is because going ahead with it without the proper knowledge might get you or your business into trouble, covering both financial and legality issues.
You get to avoid violating others’ brand name which came into being prior to the launch of your product or brand. Legality issues won’t certainly come up to you when you first do your comprehensive research. On top of this, you also shun yourself from negative publicity.
But on another note, when you find out that you can use your intended brand name or logo without restraints, you can register it. You then get yourself a protected name or symbol that identifies your own business.
This allows you to save on a lot of money when it comes to marketing expenses. There are companies who choose a brand name or logo for their product or service. Then they immediately produce marketing and sales collaterals and do advertising efforts with the objective of creating brand awareness among their target market.
Without proper and professional trademarks search efforts, there are companies that have already spent a huge amount of money on designing a new logo, brand new advertisements and printed materials and of course, packaging. These could have been avoided should they have conducted first a brand or mark availability search.
If you like to draw a lot and love to put both sides of your brain into action, then an LINK:industrial designer job in Singapore:http://www.pyprus.com will be perfect for you. Industrial designers are behind aesthetics and engineered designs of everyday products we use—shoes, bags, chairs, flat irons, glass, medical equipment—everything that makes our lives easier. Without the creativity and ingenuity of industrial designers we might end up using the telephone by sticking our ears onto the wall instead of simply picking up the receiver from the phone that is hanging on the wall—get the picture?
If you’re a new grad, you’ve chosen an exciting career being an industrial designer. If you are taking another course which does not excite you, well it is high time to make a choice. Drop the units and sign up for the Industrial Design course as most students dauntlessly do, for the following reasons:
The Job Lets You Bring Your Ideas Into Life Through Drawings. Do you love to sketch a lot? Do you love the thrill of your ideas becoming real through your drawings? Furthermore, do you love it when people actually think your idea is cool, so cool in fact, that they want to reproduce products by the millions? That’s the power of a good design.
The Job Involves The Practical Side Of The Material. There can be a lot of good designers out there but the best design is one that meets the practical side of product engineering as well. For example, some designs are very nice but very expensive and unrealistic. There has to be a marriage between great design and doable design given the product budget. After all, the end product should be something that people can afford or will be willing to pay.
You Become At The Forefront Of Product Evolution. This is just the most exciting thing about the work—you get to create a product even before it becomes a hit to worldwide consumers!
It Sure Pays! Aside from the psychic rewards, a job in industrial design pays well. Imagine getting paid for your ideas, for having fun, and for getting to do what you want?
It Allows You To Interact With Clients And Present Ideas To Them. An industrial designer is also a sociable person in that he is the one presenting his ideas to clients. If your game involves meeting people and expressing your ideas to them, then this definitely is for you.
But the real stinger in having a design job is when other people steal your ideas. It is important therefore for the design company to enlist the capable services of an intellectual property office so you can be sure your ideas are protected!
How Do You Prepare And Land An Industrial Designer Job In Singapore?
Getting a good college education from a university that offers co-op or on-the-job training from good companies will be the best way to prepare. Start now and land an exciting career as industrial designer! Take you training seriously, and apply to train with companies which you would like to join as an employee later on. Remember, do well and who knows, right after your college diploma comes the job offer. Good luck!
Intellectual property, often called IP, is fast gaining importance among the business community. More importantly, IP is rapidly becoming a valuable asset of many companies involved in various industries such as tourism, retail and information technology.
However, because IP assets are intangible, managing them requires a different approach. Unlike those that are concrete and can readily be seen or heard or experienced, IP needs to be perceived, felt and understood as a concrete concept despite it being abstract.
One sound advice that potential IP owners must take heed of is to start registration and management of intellectual property at the earliest time possible. Thus, right at the onset of formulating business strategies, the notion, nay the very idea, of IP management should already be present.
Singapore’s policies on IP are contained in the Singapore Intellectual Property Law. In an effort to balance the protection of rights of owners of creative works with that of increased public access to IP, the Law is harmonised with principles that are the basis of global laws on IP rights.
For instance, IPRs registered in this Lion State are given the same standards of protection as those enumerated in international agreements, including the World Trade Organization’s TRIPS (also known as the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement, plus the Berne and Paris Conventions.
At the forefront of protection of intellectual property is the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore. Also known as IPOS, it was created by virtue of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore Act in April 2001.
IPOS is mandated to administer the following legislation: Copyright Act (Cap 63); Geographical Indications Act (Cap 117B); Patents Act (Cap 221); Layout-Designs of Integrated Circuits Act (Cap 159A); Registered Designs Act (Cap 266); Trade Marks Act (Cap 332); and, the Plant Varieties Protection Act (Act 22 of 2004).
To save on time and effort in the registration of intellectual property, Singapore companies need not go directly to IPOS. Consulting with a certified registration agency that is an expert in the field of managing intellectual property is more practical.
The LINK:Intellectual Property Office Of Singapore:http://www.pyprus.com is the lead government agency under the Ministry Of Law the protects intellectual property, provides education and awareness about its importance and that lays the infrastructure ready for IP implementation in Singapore. With Singapore having a pro-business community, creating business ideas which can be protected from infringement is necessary and an important, well-chosen emphasis of the government. The IP protection gives confidence to entrepreneurs for their business ideas or concepts from the time of conception to the time these concepts become real-life products of mass consumption. Ideas are the lifeblood of many businesses; as such these should be protected at all costs.
First of all it is because you are protected from other people who can rip your ideas from you. Second, it is because you are helping the local government eradicate risky and fake businesses who illegally copy ideas. There has to be fairness in business from the time one idea has been conceptualized.
As a business owner, you also may unknowingly make the mistake of creating a product from already existing products elsewhere. For this reason, working with a service provider on intellectual property matters will help. Singapore, in particular, has IP agreements signed with many countries including Japan, Paris, and member countries of the World Intellectual Property Organization. This means that products innovated in Singapore do not infringe upon the laws signed by these countries and nations.
If you are to do it on your own, yes. Try checking the website of the Intellectual Property Office Of Singapore and you will see the many legislations provided for each and every IP subject, such as patents, copyrights, trademark, registered designs, etc. Engaging the services of an IP service provider is most important to save time and resources and to simply not get lost in the process. It will be worth the peace of mind you have knowing that while you are innovating an idea, your innovations are protected in Singapore and elsewhere in the world.
Singapore’s intellectual property regime is considered at its infancy despite being able to rise as a developed industrial and potential technological base in the Asian region. Its independent patent system was only developed in 1995 and it has relatively low level of local innovation.
However, there are several factors that Singapore can take advantage of to leverage and keep pace with the increasing strength of the developing countries’ IP regime. One of them is its transition from an old order economy that is highly dependent on tangible assets to an economy that treats intangible asset as the primary driver of the country’s economic growth.
The introduction of the intellectual property rules through the multilateral trading system (more commonly known as the World Trade Organization on Trade-Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (WTO-TRIPS)) also indicates that the right time to establish intellectual property law in Singapore has come.
Developing intellectual property rights in Singapore will promote effective exploitation as well as promotion of its local innovations. This endeavor, once successfully maneuvered, could bring greater income to the country since innovations attract foreign investments.
Other benefits of strengthening intellectual property rights in Singapore include sharing of knowledge and free flow of ideas, granted that the person behind the intellectual creation is awarded with the lawful rights.
However, the impact of these perceived benefits depends on the socio-economic level of the country involved. The cost of establishing IP regime speaks of truly a substantial investment.
In addition, the concerned country may not yet fully exploit its local innovations during the early stages of establishing the IP regime. Given its robust economy, Singapore certainly is in a better position when these factors are to be taken as a primary consideration.
Singapore only needs to take several proactive measures, which include proper enforcement of the intellectual property law in Singapore. Observing this ensures that both the local and the foreign partner’s IP rights are protected, while people can still have reasonable access to the usage of inventions.