Singapore Reveals 10-Year Plan To Be Global IP Hub

By Kelly Burke for Intellectual Property Watch

The government of Singapore today revealed a set of initiatives it plans to implement over the next decade to further develop the country as an intellectual property hub.

The plan was formulated by an IP steering committee convened by the government. Over 200 IP professionals from 100 local and foreign companies and organisations were consulted to create the strategy.

According to the report, Singapore should aim to excel in three main areas: IP transactions and management, quality IP filings, and IP dispute resolution. In order to achieve these outcomes, the committee has recommended 14 initiatives for implementation.

Recommendations included: establishing a centre of excellence for IP valuation; introducing an IP financing scheme, where the government partially underwrites the value of IP used as collateral; strengthening the capabilities of Singapore’s IP court to attract more IP litigation; encouraging more Asia-centric, multi-disciplinary IP research in Singapore; and collaborating with industries to establish a one-stop licensing platform.

The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore will also invest S$50 million (US$40.3 million) to build up patent search and examination capabilities in tech areas considered to be strategically important to Singapore.

The 10-year strategy can be found here.