A trademark is a type of intellectual property that is required for any company seeking to establish a brand image with customers. Customers unconsciously associate your brand with the distinctive phrases and graphics you employ to represent your company. Over time, these marks become inextricably linked to your company. Trademarks protect these one-of-a-kind words and images, making it impossible for a competitor to imitate your business image. Let’s take a look at how to register a trademark with Singapore’s Intellectual Property Office (IPOS).
Trademarks registered under the Singapore Trademark Act are only valid inside Singapore’s borders. Businesses can, however, choose to submit an international application under the Madrid Protocol after filing a trademark in Singapore.
Search and Enquiry
Before applying for trademark registration, it is recommended to search for the existing trademarks in the database to ensure that there is no prior trademark that is identical or similar to the one you intend to file for registration, particularly in the same nature as your business. You can search for the availability of your trademark in the IPOS database.
Corpass or Singpass
Once you’ve secured the availability of your trademark, you will need a CorPass or SingPass account, which Brealant has, to access IPOS. CorpPass is the only login method for online corporate transactions with more than 200 government digital services.
Filing the Application
The applicant needs to furnish the following information in the form available in IPOS to obtain a filing date: (1) the name and address of the applicant, (2) a clear graphical representation of the mark, (3) a list of goods and/or services sought for registration, classified according to the International Classification of Goods and Services, (4) a declaration of use or intent to use of the trademark, and pay the prescribed.
An address for service in Singapore must be provided in all trademark applications, and Brealant provides that service.
What happens next after submitting your application?
- Formalities Check: After submitting your trademark application, IPOS’ Registry of Trade Marks will conduct formalities check if the application meets the minimum requirements such as the goods and services claimed. When the minimum filing requirements are met, a filing date will be allocated to the application. Otherwise, a deficiency letter will be issued to request for the applicant to remedy the deficiencies.
- Search for prior registration: Once the application has passed the formalities check, the Trademark Examiners will search to check if the mark applied for is similar to any trademark which is already registered or has already been applied for by someone else for the same or similar goods or services.
- Examination: After the searches have been conducted, the application will be examined to determine whether the mark is registrable by the law. If the examiner has any objection to the mark, he will inform the applicant of the objection(s) and grant the applicant a specified period to respond to the objection.
- Publication: If the application has no objection from the examiner during the examination period or if all of the objections have been overcome, the applicant will be informed of the acceptance of the application. The application will be published for opposition in IPOS’ Trade Marks Journal for two months. During the publication period, any interested party may oppose the registration of a trademark.
- Registration: If there’s no opposition received during the 50days publication period, the trademark application will be allowed for registration and a registration certificate will be issued.
Estimated Processing Time
For smooth application, the total processing time from the filing date to the registration of the mark is normally about nine months. For applications that faced objection(s), the total processing time is likely to be longer.
Duration and maintenance of registration
A trademark that has been registered is considered valid for ten years. It can also be renewed for another ten years if the owner files a renewal application before the initial ten-year period expires.You may also choose to stop using the mark before the 10-year period expires. Others may want to register your mark for their own if it isn’t used in the market. You can designate a third-party corporation to distribute your goods or services if you want to retain control. In this manner, your trademark will continue to be used, and no one else will be able to copy it. However, you will retain exclusive legal ownership of the mark as long as it is still registered and recognized valid.