7 September, 2018
Ms Indranee Rajah, Minister, Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for Finance and Second Minister for Education kicks off the 7th edition of IP Week @ SG 2018.
Ms Indranee Rajah, Second Minister for Finance and Second Minister for Education (sixth from right), Mr Daren Tang, Chief Executive, IPOS (first from left), Dr Stanley Lai, Chairman, IPOS (first from right), Mr Yoshiyuki Takagi, Assistant Director General, World Intellectual Property Organisation (fifth from left) and the winners of the WIPO-IPOS IP Awards.
The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) today announced new initiatives with a wide range of innovation stakeholders to entrench Singapore as an IP and innovation hub. The partnerships with insurance giant Lloyd’s Asia, and NUS School of Continuing and Lifelong Education (NUS SCALE), will offer enterprises new tools and capabilities to grow their intangible assets and commercialise their IP. Thailand’s largest industrial conglomerate, Siam Cement Group (SCG) through SCG Chemicals Co., Ltd., will also sign an agreement to leverage on IPOS’ suite of services for business growth. IPOS will sign the three Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) at IP Week @ SG 2018, one of Asia’s premier IP events.
Enabling Singapore innovative enterprises to scale global markets with confidence
2. The launch of the Makara Innovation Fund last year enabled IPOS to provide innovative enterprises with smart and patient capital to scale up. However, IP and intangible asset driven growth presents new types of risk that need to be managed differently. IPOS’ partnership with Lloyd’s Asia, the leading marketplace for specialist insurance and reinsurance, will address the rising global demand from innovative enterprises for cutting edge protection, in the form of IP insurance, of their intangible assets and IP. With Lloyd’s global network and expertise in specialist insurance, enterprises in the region can now look forward to new IP insurance products from Singapore which will enable them to grow globally with more confidence.
3. Under the MoU, Lloyd’s Asia will work with IPOS to introduce IP insurance products which will cater to the needs of enterprises in attracting capital, averting business interruption and strengthening negotiating positions when they use IP in the course of their business. Both parties will also jointly organise a series of seminars reaching out to 100 companies over a period of two years to promote Singapore as a centre of excellence for IP commercialisation, IP rights protection and the availability of underwriting expertise for IP insurance.[1] As a strategic business tool, IP insurance allows companies to take on a larger capacity in managing and mitigating their risks as they commercialise their intangible assets and IP, and venture into global markets.
4. Ms Angela Kelly, Country Manager of Lloyd’s Asia, said, “Intangible assets such as IP now account for a significant share of corporate value for many companies. Businesses can safeguard this highly valuable asset through IP insurance to help mitigate the risks of IP infringement, including defraying legal costs of possible subsequent IP rights enforcement. In 2016, there were over 50,000 trademark registrations and over 7,000 patent registrations in Singapore alone. As companies in Asia continue their pursuit and development of innovative ideas and solutions, the potential for IP insurance will grow in tandem in the region.”
5. Mr Ng Yao Loong (黄耀龙), Assistant Managing Director (助理局长), Development & International Group (开发与国际), Monetary Authority of Singapore (新加坡金融管理局), said, “The collaboration between IPOS and Lloyd’s Asia reinforces Singapore’s position as Asia’s leading specialty insurance hub. This development in IP insurance is a good reflection of how our insurance sector is innovating and creating solutions to help Asian enterprises better manage their risks.”
Helping Singaporeans build IP and innovation related skills
6. As Singapore powers ahead to become an innovation-driven economy, there will be an increase in the demand for persons trained in IP and innovation related skillsets. IP Academy Singapore (IPA) – the training and education arm of IPOS – will launch a Specialist Certificate in Intangible Asset Management to train Singaporeans in IP and innovation-related skills. This will in turn create high value-added jobs for Singaporeans and help enterprises be adept at transforming their ideas into assets. The new eight-month part-time programme will not only interest those already in the IP industry, but also targets those who are new to the industry and are keen to pick up these skills. The course will emphasise practical application and have a strong commercial slant, in order to build skills that can be used to help enterprises integrate their business and IP strategies, and ultimately take their ideas to the market. The first intake is slated for January 2019.
7. IPA will also collaborate with NUS SCALE to curate and deliver executive programmes and master classes for professionals and enterprises, and work towards developing a new joint professional certification for IP and innovation skills. The training programmes will be instructed by a team of experienced faculty members and teaching staff from NUS and IPA. The joint programmes, together with the Specialist Certificate, will deepen the IP knowledge and skillsets of the participants as well as enlarge the pool of skilled IP manpower needed to bolster Singapore’s position as an IP hub.
8. Professor Wei Kwok Kee (魏国基教授), Dean (院长), NUS SCALE (新加坡国立大学持续与终身教育学院), said, “In today’s global economy, innovation is a differentiator for enterprises to stay competitive. This makes the value and management of IP more important than ever. Hence, it is of strategic importance that our nation continues to elevate our awareness and expertise on IP management. NUS SCALE is appreciative of the opportunity to partner IP Academy Singapore, an authoritative academy in its field, to foster innovation among our professionals and businesses and advance their competitiveness through high-quality IP education.”
Servicing the flow of ideas and innovation ‘from Singapore, through Singapore’
9. Asia has seen tremendous growth in innovation related activities, with six out of ten IP filings now originating from Asia. This growth has been driven largely by China, which is now the world’s largest filer of patents, reaching 1.3 million in 2017 – more than what the US, EU, Japan and Korea filed together in the same year.
10. As a result of these trends, there is a huge amount of technology and patent data in the world – close to 40% – that is available only in the Chinese language. IPOS is the only office outside of China that operates bilingually in English and Chinese. As such, we are able to access and understand technology and patent data from all over the world and leverage on this to deepen Singapore’s appeal as an IP hub.
11. To leverage on this capability, SCG, Thailand’s largest industrial and manufacturing conglomerate and a leading ASEAN multi-national company, will sign an MoU with IPOS to access IPOS’ comprehensive patent search services as well as other services such as IP related capability building.
12. Mr Cholanat Yanaranop, Executive Vice President of SCG, Chairman of SCG Innovation Committee and President of SCG Chemicals, said, “Known regionally for their efficiency and quality patent search and examination, Singapore is also one of the only two countries in the world that can conduct patent searches in both English and Chinese, ensuring thorough and comprehensive search results which is important when we expand our product offerings to the world markets”.
13. Elaborating on the three MoUs and their significance for Singapore’s position as an IP hub, Mr Daren Tang (邓鸿森), Chief Executive (局长) of IPOS (新加坡知识产权局), said, “Our aim is to build Singapore’s innovation ecosystem so that “from Singapore and through Singapore” IP from anywhere in the world can use this country as a base to commercialise their IP and access growth markets in Asia and beyond. These new partnerships will bring cutting edge IP products to the region, build skills that are needed by enterprises as they innovate, and position Singapore’s IP hub as one that understands Asian and Western technology and patent databases. Our initiatives leverage on Singapore’s traditional strengths as a forward looking, enterprise centred and global city, but through a new lens of IP and innovation.”
Recognising innovative enterprises at annual WIPO-IPOS IP Awards
14. At the opening ceremony of IP Week @ SG, six winners of the pre-eminent WIPO-IPOS IP awards for 2018 were announced by Ms Indranee Rajah, Minster, Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for Finance and Second Minister for Education. These enterprises have achieved outstanding growth in innovation, transformation and commercialisation through their IP. For the first time, IPOS presented an inaugural Young Achievers award to encourage enterprising spirit among youths. Two awards were also accorded by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a specialised agency of the United Nations.
The winners are:
|
Award |
Category |
Winner |
|
IPOS Award for IP Champions |
Most Transformative |
K-One Industries Pte Ltd (江壹工业私人有限公司) |
|
Most Innovative |
Creative Technology Ltd (创新科技有限公司) |
|
|
Best Commercialisation Strategy |
Structo Pte Ltd (速科特私人有限公司) |
|
|
IPOS |
Young Achievers Award |
Qanemate Pte Ltd (鸠杖) |
|
WIPO |
Enterprise Trophy |
Creative Technology Ltd (创新科技有限公司) |
|
Users’ Trophy |
MediaTek Singapore Pte Ltd (联发科技股份有限公司) |
An overview of the awards and the winning companies are in Annex A.
1 – IP insurance could cover legal expenses in IP disputes such as infringement of IP and breaches of licences to use IP.
ANNEX A
Winners of WIPO-IPOS IP Awards 2018
IPOS Awards
- IPOS Award for IP Champions – Most Transformative
This award is given to the company who is recognised for a disrupting business model or industry.
Winner: K-One Industries Pte Ltd (江壹工业私人有限公司)
With a vision to provide sustainable and environmentally-friendly solutions to global industries, K-One has been innovating and transforming its business model since 1997. To date, it has patented more than 12 innovative inventions, products, processes or technology, among which have benefitted the environment or businesses by sparing millions of trees from being cut down, or reducing storage, production and transport costs for companies. From its very first innovation the eco-slim condom packaging in 2000 and eco-flat contact lens packaging in 2005 to its revolutionary eco-mobile dishwasher in 2014, K-One has transformed tremendously over time, disrupting industries along with it. While it was unable to leverage on its first innovation because its IP was unprotected, K-One has since strengthened its IP position and strategies. Its eco-mobile dishwasher which features state-of-the-art technology that cuts water and electricity usage by 50% while washing twice the number of dishes is already gaining traction worldwide.
- IPOS Award for IP Champions – Most Innovative
This award recognises companies for creating new products or services not seen before.
Winner: Creative Technology Ltd (创新科技有限公司)
A worldwide leader in digital entertainment products, Creative has been exploring new frontiers since the creation of its Sound Blaster in 1989 which has sold over 400 million units. Since then, Creative has amassed technologies and know-how in the audio space, owning more than 1000 patents including 748 utility and 276 design patents and over 1400 registered trademarks. For its latest innovation, the Super Xi-Fi chip, Creative has poured in over 20 years of engineering R&D effort to break new ground. Super X-Fi is a headphone holography technology that brings the human listening experience with headphones to a whole new level of realism. First, it creates an advanced head and ear mapping and then uses an artificial intelligence engine to merge it with the acoustics of a 3D space to create a personalised synthesized SXFI™ acoustic map.
- IPOS Award for IP Champions – Best Commercialisation Strategy
This award recognises the company who has best utilised their IP to drive profit or growth.
Winner: Structo (速科特私人有限公司)
A relative newcomer to the market, Structo is a Singapore-based dental 3D printing solutions provider founded by a group of NUS Engineering graduates in 2014. Structo designs, develops and builds 3D printers, resins and software tailored for dental applications, all made in Singapore. Working closely with industry leaders and pioneers to address specific dental needs, Structo’s printers, materials and software have already been deployed in some of the world’s largest dental laboratories. Having realised the limitations of existing 3D printers which were slow and covered only small areas, Structo invented the MSLA technology to achieve record-breaking printing speeds at lower costs without compromising quality. It also invented the Velox ecosystem which decentralizes, streamlines and automates the entire 3D printing process. It currently holds several patents and registered trade marks, in addition to designs, trade secrets and copyright.
Honourable Mentions
- Blue Capital Pte. Ltd.: Recognised for its game-changing marine and offshore infrastructural technologies that are never before seen in the industry.
- Lucence Diagnostics Pte. Ltd.: Recognised for its advanced invention in fast and non-invasive cancer blood tests with just a single draw of blood.
- Osteopore International: Recognised for its first-of-its-kind bioresorbable implants that facilitate natural tissue growth after surgery.
- IPOS Young Achievers Award
This special mention recognises young enterprising innovators.
Winner: Qanemate Pte Ltd (鸠杖)
Qanemate’s invention is a portable, interactive and smart mobility device for seniors using QR codes and NFC chips, which is attached to a cane or umbrella and thereafter clipped onto furniture. First invented when its young Founders saw an old lady fall to the ground and injure herself while trying to pick up her fallen cane, Qanemate envisions to be a social enterprise to empower elders with safer and smarter mobility and make Singapore a fall-proof nation. Qanemate’s business model is to offer these inventive devices on its CSR platform where corporates can sponsor and work closely with non-profits to assemble and add an artistic touch to them. It owns one patent and four trade marks, with international applications in process. So far, more than 500 prototypes have been given out for needy elders at healthcare institutions mainly through physiotherapists.
WIPO Awards
- WIPO IP Enterprise Trophy
The WIPO IP Enterprise Trophy is awarded to the most outstanding recipient of the IPOS Award for IP Champions. The objective is to recognise an organisation that has made imaginative use of IP in their business activities.
Winner: Creative Technology Ltd (创新科技有限公司)
Creative Technology is the most outstanding recipient among the three IPOS Award IP Champions. Its Super X-Fi innovation has not only emerged as the most innovative but is also impactful and disruptive to the consumer audio market. Creative Technology’s Super X-Fi promises to turn any headphone into a surround sound setup at the price point of USD $150. This innovation has helped Creative shoot up to the top of the Singapore Exchange’s gainers list on Monday 5 March 2018 and boosted the value of its stock to the highest it has been in a decade.
- WIPO Users’ Trophy
The WIPO Users’ Trophy is awarded to a particular user of WIPO’s IP services. These services include the Patent Cooperation Treaty System (for patents), the Madrid System (for trade marks), the Hague System (for registered designs) and the Lisbon System (for appellations of origin), together with the services of the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center. The Trophy recognises the early adoption or innovative use of these services. The WIPO Users’ Trophy is awarded at the discretion of WIPO.
Winner: MediaTek Singapore Pte Ltd (联发科技股份有限公司)
MediaTek is the world’s fourth largest global fabless semiconductor company and powers more than 1.5 billion devices a year. It leads the market in chipset technology for Smart TVs, Voice Assistant Devices (VAD), Android tablets, feature phones, Optical and Blu-ray DVD players, and is the number two globally in mobile phones. At MediaTek, its technology is built with humans in mind to enhance and enrich life, making the world a more inclusive place. Its chips and technology are already likely part of your everyday life, and can be found in 20 percent of homes globally, with nearly one of every three mobile phones being powered by MediaTek.
Panel of Judges
- Professor Hang Chang Chieh, Executive Director, National University of Singapore (NUS) – Institute for Engineering Leadership
- Mr Lester Chan, Chief Executive Officer, Fund Singapore
- Mr Mark Lim, Director/Chief Legal Counsel (Hearings and Mediation), Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS)
- Professor Dr-Ing Wolfgang Müller-Wittig, Chief Executive Officer, Fraunhofer Singapore
- Ms Charmian Choong, Deputy Director (Enterprise Capabilities Division), Enterprise Singapore (ESG)
