10 February, 2017
In the recently published PCT filing statistics by the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO), China has once again emerged as one of the world’s top 3 patent filing offices, with 26,984 PCT applications filed in 2015 alone.
According to WIPO's trend analysis, PCT application filings received by the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) of China in 2015 achieved double digit growth of 14.6% when compared to the number of filings in 2014. Together with non- PCT patent applications, SIPO received a total of 1.1 million patent applications in 2015.
IPOS as a Receiving Office for Chinese-language PCT Applications
As of 1 January 2017, the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) will be accepting Chinese as a language for PCT applications. This is expected to bring convenience and benefits to nationals and residents of Singapore who have filed or intend to file patent applications in Chinese, by allowing direct filing of PCT applications in Chinese and also a deferment of translation costs from Chinese to English until national phase entry. IPOS now becomes only the second International Search Authority (ISA) and International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) other than SIPO to conduct search and examination in Chinese.
So as to tailor their services to the needs of PCT applicants, although the final search report will be issued in Chinese, applicants can inform IPOS by way of a cover letter should they prefer to receive the report in English. With respect to costs, there will not be any difference in official fees for selecting Chinese instead of English.
IPOS Announces Revisions to Patent Official Fees
In line with the Singapore government's commitment to support and promote local innovation, IPOS has announced a series of fee revisions to patent official fees which will come into effect on 1 April 2017.
As illustrated in the tables below, while the fees for requesting search and examination will be lowered, there will be an increase in the patent renewal fees.
Please click on the image to enlarge.
Please click on the image to enlarge.
IPOS also announced revisions to excess claim fees. Presently, excess claim fees of SGD 20 are payable for each claim in excess of 25 total claims, and such fees are payable upon grant of the patent. Effective as of 1 April 2017, excess claim fees of SGD 20 will be payable for each claim in excess of 20 total claims, and such fees will be payable at the time of filing a request for examination. Excess claim fees of SGD 20 per claim will also be payable upon grant of the patent for any claims added during examination that increase the total number of claims.
At the same time, IPOS also announced that all official fees will now be subjected to a 7% Goods and Service Tax. The revised fees and implementation of the Goods and Services Tax on all official fees will be effective as of 1 April 2017.
For further information, please contact:
Angeline Lee, Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow
Angeline.M.Lee@Bakermckenzie.com
