Enhanced border enforcement measures in Registered Designs Act 2000 and Geographical Indications Act 2014 operative from 21 November 2022

22 November 2022

With effect from 21 November 2022, the provisions relating to enhanced border enforcement measures in the Registered Designs Act 2000 (“RDA”) and Geographical Indications Act 2014 (“GIA”) came into effect. Set out below is a summary of the legislative changes giving effect to the enhanced measures:

  • Pursuant to the Geographical Indications Act 2014 (Commencement) Notification 2022, Part 6 of the GIA came into effect on 21 November 2022.
  • Pursuant to the Intellectual Property (Border Enforcement) Act 2018 (Commencement) Notification 2022:
  • Part 2 and sections 87(3) and 88(3) of the Intellectual Property (Border Enforcement) Act 2018 (“IP (BE) Act”) came into effect on 21 November 2022 at 12:01 am; and
  • Part 3 of the IP (BE) Act came into effect on 21 November 2022.

Phased implementation since 2018

By way of background, the IP (BE) Act was enacted to amend the Copyright Act (the Copyright Act (Cap 63) was repealed and replaced by the Copyright Act 2021 with effect from 21 November 2021. Border enforcement measures are set out mainly in Part 6 of the Copyright Act 2021) (“CA”), Trade Marks Act 1998 (“TMA”), RDA and GIA to enhance the border enforcement measures for intellectual property rights, as well as to implement Singapore’s obligations under the European Union-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (“EUSFTA”) relating to these measures. The new measures in the GIA and RDA which took effect on 21 November 2022 represent the third and final phase of the implementation of the IP (BE) Act.

Set out below is a summary of the IP (BE) Act’s phased implementation since 2018:

  • Upon passing of the Intellectual Property (Border Enforcement) Bill (Phase 1): New powers in the CA and TMA for Singapore Customs to obtain and provide information relating to the seized goods came into force on 10 October 2018. For more, please read our article titled “Intellectual Property (Border Enforcement) Act 2018 partially in force on 10 October 2018”.
  • Upon entry into force of EUSFTA (Phase 2): Enhanced border enforcement measures in the CA and TMA, and the standardised terms and provisions relating to border enforcement in the CA and TMA were implemented on 21 November 2019. For more, please read our article titled “Partial commencement of Intellectual Property (Border Enforcement) Act 2018 on 21 November 2019”.
  • Within three years of the entry into force of EUSFTA (Phase 3): Enhanced border enforcement measures in the RDA, new powers in the GIA and RDA for Singapore Customs to obtain and provide information relating to the seized goods and the standardised terms and provisions relating to border enforcement in the GIA and RDA were implemented on 21 November 2022.

Supporting subsidiary legislation

In support of the enhanced measures, the following subsidiary legislation came into effect on 21 November 2022:

  • Registered Designs (Border Enforcement Measures) Rules 2022
  • Registered Designs (Border Enforcement Measures - Fees) Rules 2022
  • Geographical Indications (Border Enforcement Measures) Rules 2022
  • Geographical Indications (Border Enforcement Measures - Fees) Rules 2022

Reference materials

The following reference materials are available on the Ministry of Law (“MinLaw”) website www.minlaw.gov.sg and Singapore Statutes Online website sso.agc.gov.sg: