International Agreements |
Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (as amended on 28 September 1979).
Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) (from 1 January 1995).
Locarno Agreement Establishing an International Classification for Industrial Designs (as amended on 28 September 1979).
The 1999 Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs. |
Design Authority |
Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) |
Types of Designs Available |
- Single Designs.
- Plural Designs (two or more Designs may be the subject of the same Application for Registration if the Designs relate to the same Class and sub-Class of articles, or the same set of articles).
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Paris Convention Deadline: |
Six (6) months from the earliest claimed priority date. |
Registrability Requirements |
- The Design must be new and applied to an article by an industrial process. This means that more than fifty (50) copies of the article must have been or are intended to be produced for sale or hire.
- Generally, a Design is not new if it:
- has been registered;
- has been published anywhere in the world, in respect of the same or any other article; or
- Differs only in immaterial details, or features, from other Designs that are commonly found in trade.
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Non-Registrable Designs |
- Designs that are contrary to public order or morality;
- Computer programmes or layout Designs of integrated circuits;
- Designs applied to certain articles, such as wall plaques, medals and medallions, and printed matter primarily of a literary or artistic character (e.g. calendars, certificates, coupons, greeting cards, leaflets, maps, playing cards, postcards, stamps, and similar articles);
- Methods or principles of construction;
- Designs that are solely functional;
- Designs that are dependent upon the appearance of another article, and which are intended to form an integral part of another article, so that either article may perform its function (“must-match Designs”); and
- Designs that enable the article to be connected to, placed in, around or against, another article so that either article may perform its function (“must-fit Designs”).
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Filing Requirements |
- Class(es) according to the Locarno Classification System;
- Applicant’s Name and Address, State and Country of Incorporation (if applicable);
- Designer’s Name, Address and Nationality;
- Entitlement of the Applicant: i.e. how the Applicant has derived the right to the Design from the Designer (Assignment, Employment or other Agreement);
- A Statement of Novelty describing the features of the Design which the Applicant considers to be new;
- Name of article(s) in relation to which the Design is sought to be registered;
- Representation(s) of the Design in the form of drawings or black and white photographs showing various views of the Design;
- Optionally: Any Convention Claim and the details (Date, Number and Country) of the Basic Application from which Convention Priority is claimed;
- A Request for the Registration of a Design; and
- Government filing fee.
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Initial Design Term |
Five (5) years. |
Full Term (if all renewals are paid timeously) |
Fifteen (15) years. |
Search and Examination |
- After filing, IPOS will check that the minimum filing requirements are met and if so, will issue an Acknowledgement Letter within fifteen (15) days from the filing date. If the minimum filing requirements are not met, the Applicant will be notified accordingly.
- The Design automatically undergoes Formal Examination.
- No Substantive Examination is carried out. However, the Registrar may refuse an Application for Registration of a Design if, on the face of the Application, the Design is not new or is not registrable for any other reason, and will give notice thereof to the Applicant.
- If the Application fails to comply with the formal requirements, an Office Action is issued. The Applicant has three (3) months to correct any non-compliance identified in the Office Action or the Application will be withdrawn.
- If the Application complies with the formal requirements, the Design proceeds to Registration within two (2) months of the date of the Acknowledgement Letter and a Registration Certificate will issue. The Design will be published in the IPOS e‑Journal shortly thereafter.
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Amendment |
Amendments are permitted on request and payment of Government fees, provided that the amendment does not increase the scope of the Application by the inclusion of matter that was not in substance disclosed in the Application as filed. |
Third Party Oppositions and Applications |
- Entitlement Proceedings: Any person having or claiming an interest in the Design may apply to the Court to determine the true Owner of the Design; whether the Design should have been registered in the name of the person in whose name it was registered; or whether any right in the Design should be transferred or granted to any other person, and the Court will determine the question and may make such order as it considers appropriate to give effect to the determination. This can include an order that the name of the Applicant be entered in the Register as the Owner or one of the Owners of the Design (whether or not to the exclusion of any other person); that the transaction by virtue of which that person has acquired any right in the Design be registered; that a licence for the use of the Design be granted; and/or that the Registered Owner of the Design or any person having any right in the Design carry out such act as the Court considers appropriate to give effect to any directions in the order. If an application to determine the true Owner of the Design is made after the end of the period of two (2) years from the date of issue of the Certificate of Registration, no order will be made transferring any right in the Design from the Registered Owner to any other person on the ground that the Registered Owner was not entitled to be registered as the Owner, unless it is shown that the Registered Owner knew at the time of the Registration of the Design that he/she was not entitled to be registered as the Owner.
- Revocation proceedings: Any interested person may apply to the Registrar or the Court for the Revocation of the Registration of the Design on the ground that the Design was not, at the date of its Registration, new, or on any other ground on which the Registrar could have refused to register the Design.
- Groundless threats: If the Owner of a Registered Design threatens another person with infringement proceedings, an aggrieved person may bring proceedings against the person making the threats for a declaration that the threats are unjustifiable; an injunction against the continuance of the threats; and damages in respect of any loss sustained by the threats. The plaintiff is entitled to such relief unless the defendant proves that the acts in respect of which the proceedings were threatened constitute, or if done would constitute, an infringement of the Design; and the plaintiff fails to show that the Registration of the Design concerned is invalid. However, proceedings may not be brought in relation to a threat to bring proceedings for an infringement alleged to consist of the making or importing of anything.
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Restoration Provisions |
If the Application is deemed to be withdrawn due to failure to respond to the Formal Examination Office Action within the stipulated three (3) months, an Applicant may request reinstatement of the Application, upon payment of the required Government fee. The Applicant must then comply with the conditions imposed by the Registrar in the Office Action before the Application will be reinstated. |
Renewals |
- A Design Application may be renewed twice, once on the fifth (5th) anniversary of the filing date of the Application and once on the tenth (10th) anniversary.
- Renewal fees must be paid within six (6) months of the renewal date, or the Registration will lapse.
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General |
- It is possible to register Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) as Designs. In order to be registered, GUIs must still conform to the requirements of novelty and industrial applicability (e.g. an electronic device’s display.) GUIs may either be static (non-animated) or dynamic (animated). For animated GUIs, an Applicant must provide a series of static representations (minimum two (2), maximum forty (40)) in consecutive order showing the GUI in action.
- Where a registered Design was, at the time it was registered, a corresponding Design in relation to an artistic work in which Copyright subsists under Singaporean Copyright Law, then the period of Registration of the Design expires when the Copyright in that work expires (if that is earlier than the time at which it would otherwise expire) and it may not thereafter be extended.
- A Basic Application that is not in English must be accompanied by a verified translation into English.
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