MinLaw to develop IP Hub Masterplan
With the growing emphasis on intellectual property (IP), the Law Ministry has announced plans to develop Singapore into Asia's IP Hub and a committee will be tasked to look into this.
SINGAPORE: With the growing emphasis on intellectual property (IP), the Law Ministry has announced plans to develop Singapore into Asia's IP Hub and a committee will be tasked to look into this.
Speaking in Parliament during the Committee of Supply Debate, Law Minister K Shanmugam explained that IP has become an important part of the global economy.
This, as the value of intangible assets for S&P 500 companies, of which IP is a major component, is about 80 per cent. 30 years ago, it was just 17 per cent.
Mr Shanmugam added that over the last decade, patent and trademark filings have increased by over 40 per cent worldwide. This meant that worldwide royalty and licensing revenue has more than doubled to over US$200 billion.
With well-developed legal and financial systems and a workforce comfortable with science and technology, Singapore is poised to ride on this trend. Still, the country has a small domestic market, but Singapore can get around this by becoming Asia's IP Hub.
Since 2006, Singapore's IP regime has been consistently ranked amongst the best in the world by the World Economic Forum and the IMD.
To progress further, the law ministry will convene the IP Steering Committee to study and develop the IP Hub Masterplan. It will be headed by the former Chairman of the Economic Development Board, Mr Teo Ming Kian.
The committee will look into developing a vibrant marketplace for IP transactions and commercialisation, as well as building world-class IP capabilities and infrastructure.
Mr Shanmugam said: "The committee will recommend strategies to develop Singapore as a marketplace of choice to transact IP, and attract international firms and professionals who provide IP transactional services. For example, licensing and brokerage. The committee will also incentivise the creation, management and exploitation of IP in Singapore."
Mr Shanmugam said the move is expected to benefit local companies.
Responding to MP Pritam Singh's question about conducting a review of measures to address online piracy, and the implications of Singapore's Free Trade Agreements, the minister said a review is now in progress.
Mr Shanmugam explained the importance of the review: "Singapore has one of the highest incidences of online digital piracy in the Asia Pacific region. According to various studies from rights holders, it has been estimated that Singapore had over 300,000 incidences per month of illegal downloading on average."
He added that Singapore has already fulfilled all its obligations under its FTAs with regard to copyright protection, so any new measure to be implemented will be assessed based on national interest.
On the issue of IP dispute resolution, which was raised by MP Vikram Nair, Mr Shanmugam said that IP dispute resolution capabilities must grow in tandem with the growth of IP transactions. For example, pre-trial matters are heard by specially IP-trained registrars since last year at the Supreme Court.
While any High Court Judge may be able to handle IP cases, the minister said the court has recently announced the formal designation of judges with considerable experience and expertise in IP cases, as IP Judges.
The ministry also wants to enhance Singapore's patent regime, which is currently based on a self-assessment system. This means patents can be granted even if objections are raised in the examination report.
The government hopes to move towards a positive grant system where patents will be granted only if patentability requirements are fully met.
The ministry will make further announcements over the next few months as the various initiatives are rolled out.
