Intellectual Property Rights In Singapore

A Primer To Establishing Intellectual Property Rights In Singapore

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.

Why The Need To Establish Intellectual Property Rights In Singapore?

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.

Benefits Of Establishing Intellectual Property Rights In Singapore

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.

Proactive Measures Involved In Establishing Intellectual Property Rights In Singapore

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.