IPOS International, Skills Framework for IP and new initiative to grow ASEAN’s industry 4.0 announced at IP Week @ SG 2019: Allen & Gledhill

27 September 2019

IP Week @ SG 2019 was jointly organised by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore’s (“IPOS”) and its subsidiary IPOS International on 27 and 28 August 2019. During this two-day event, several announcements were made including the following:

Launch of IPOS International: Minister for Trade and Industry Mr Chan Chun Sing announced the launch of IPOS International at the opening ceremony of IP Week @ SG 2019. Bringing together over 100 intellectual property (“IP”) experts with strengths in IP strategy and management, patent search and analysis, and IP education and training, IPOS International will support enterprises and industries for business growth through the commercialisation of their intangible assets (“IA”) and IP. IPOS International provides customised programmes and advisory services tailored to specific business needs. For a start, businesses can use Illuminate® for Enterprise, a free diagnostic tool to assess their level of IA/IP risks. In 10 minutes, businesses will receive key insights on potential IP/IA gaps and risks, as well as tips and recommendations for further actions.
Introduction of Skills Framework for IP: Singapore’s first (and also the world’s first) Skills Framework for IP was launched to raise the overall competencies of IP professionals, helping them identify career development pathways and the skills needed to succeed in high-value roles requiring IP skills across the public and private sectors. The framework covers 11 job roles and 60 technical and general skills across five tracks: IP Commercialisation, IP Legal, IP Management, IP Strategy and Patent Prosecution.
New ASEAN Patent Examination Co-operation (ASPEC) Acceleration for Industry 4.0 Infrastructure and Manufacturing (“ASPEC-AIM”) initiative: Singapore and eight other ASEAN IP Offices will prioritise patent applications in key emerging technologies such as FinTech, cybersecurity and robotics through a two-year pilot project starting 27 August 2019. Businesses and innovators will enjoy a short turnaround time of six months for the first office action under the new ASPEC-AIM initiative. There is also an agreement to broaden the scope of ASPEC to include Patent Cooperation Treaty (“PCT”) reports under a new initiative called the PCT-ASPEC which will run for a pilot of three years starting 27 August 2019. This means patent applicants may use their PCT reports from an ASEAN International Searching Authority and International Preliminary Examining Authority to accelerate their patent applications in another ASEAN country.
IPOS grants patent in a world record of three months: Under IPOS’ Accelerated Initiative for Artificial Intelligence (“AI²^”), an AI patent was granted in just three months, compared to an average of two to four years for applications not made under AI².
Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) and agreements signed: IPOS and IPOS International signed several agreements, including MOUs with the UK Intellectual Property Office, Brazil’s National Institute of Industrial Property and the Qatar Free Zones Authority. The patent prosecution highway (PPH) with China’s National IP Administration has also been extended to continue the sharing of search and examination results between both IP offices until 31 August 2021. This will serve to expedite and ease the patent application process for IP rights owners from both countries.