The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), a statutory board under the Ministry of Law handles trademark registration in the city state. An individual desiring to register his trade mark may either apply directly to the Registrar or authorize a trade mark agent to act on his behalf.

Unlike in other countries, the Singapore trademarks regime does not require the filing of evidence of use before a trade mark registration is granted. However, the trade mark has to be capable of being represented graphically like any letter, word, name, signature, numeral, device, brand, heading, label, ticket, shape, colour, aspect of packaging or a combination of these.

Prospective applicants for trademark registration are advised to consult the records of the Singapore Registry of Trademarks and Patents before filing their own applications. Whether conducted at the IPOS office or online at the eTradeMarks section of the Web site, this search allows prospective applicants to be certain that there exist no prior trademarks represented by a symbol identical or similar to what they intend to use. This is an especially crucial consideration if a similar previously-registered trademark is found in same area of business as the applicant.

Upon verifying that no prior trademarks exist that may conflict with the one being applied for, the applicant may already submit the completed trademark registration application to the Singapore Registry of Trademarks and Patents. Options for doing so include by hand, by registered post, or by filing online through the eTrademarks system. Filing fees for registering trademarks under each class is S$340 for manual processing and S$310 for online processing.

Once the IPOS has received the trademark application, the office will conduct an administrative review to verify that the application is complete and compliant with the provisions of the Trademarks Act, as well as all necessary fees having been already paid. When these conditions are met, a trademark application number will be provided, along with the date for filing.

In case there are grounds for objection, the Registry will inform the applicant of the corrections that need to be done within a specified timeframe. Failure to comply with these requirements in the allotted time will result in the application being classified as withdrawn.

The next step is for the Registry Office to mount an extensive search for similar or conflicting trademarks. They will also review geographical names and ensure your sign conforms to the international classification of goods and services. If your sign represents pharmaceutical products, the Registry would make further investigations. They would check if your mark breaches the World Health Organisation’s INN (International Non-Proprietary Name) list, which provides common names for pharmaceutical products.

If your trade mark passes the conflict test, you must still clear a couple more obstacles before you are home free. Your sign will again by studied to judge whether or not it can be registered under Singapore Trade Mark Laws, which has categories whereby certain marks are disallowed. For instances, marks that lack any distinguishing characteristics may not be entertained. If the examiner finds any objections, you will be asked to make corrections within a certain period of time.

Once it is verified that the trademark complies with Singapore Trademark Laws, the applicant will be notified of the acceptance of the application for registration which will be published in the Trade Marks Journal for public information. This will also allow any interested party to oppose the registration within two months for various grounds including issues such as the application is similar to a pending mark.

The trademark will be registered and a registration certificate will be issued to the applicant if there are no further objections or all objections were resolved in favor of the applicant.