Singapore set to benefit from WIPO designs treaty, says IPOS
Singaporean designers will benefit from the country’s decision to accede to the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) Locarno Agreement, the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) has said.
The Locarno Agreement provides for a global system of classifying industrial designs. In December last year, the Asian city-state became the 71st country to accede the agreement, which will enter into force on March 19.
Daren Tang, chief executive of IPOS, said: “As the first in the ASEAN bloc to join the Locarno Agreement, we hope to work closely with our ASEAN and global counterparts to build stronger linkages so that businesses will find it easier and cheaper to file and gain industrial designs protection for their work across countries.”
The decision to accede to the agreement, the 15th WIPO treaty to which Singapore is a signatory, has also been welcomed by local practitioners.
Winnie Tham, director at Amica Law, said it was a “long-awaited but definitely welcomed move”.
“With the accession to the Locarno Agreement, Singapore is formally aligned to the international standards and practices. Industrial designs applicants will be able to avoid discrepancies on classification and this, in turn, will make it simpler for them to check on classification issues in seeking for industrial designs protection,” Tham added.
Meanwhile, Desmond Tan, president of the Association of Singapore Patent Attorneys, said he had received positive feedback from clients regarding the news, as it means “they do not need to revisit the categorisations for their Singapore applications, thus allowing for more conformity in their respective designs portfolios”.
The decision comes as Singapore looks to establish itself further as a world leader in IP. The city-state was meant to play host to the 2020 annual meeting of the International Trademark Association (INTA), which has been called off due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Singapore will instead host the INTA annual meeting in 2022.
IPOS chief Tang is also currently in the running to succeed Francis Gurry as director general of WIPO.
WIPO’s Coordinating Committee will meet early next month to nominate a candidate for the final approval of the WIPO General Assembly.
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