Singapore - Apply for Trademark

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Procedure

Apply In-Person (International application)

1. You can register your trade mark outside Singapore by two methods.
   • Directly filing with the Intellectual Property offices of the respective countries
   • Filing a single international application through the Madrid Protocol.
2. The Madrid protocol has the following steps.
3. Before filing an international application, you should have already registered in your “home” IP office or IP office of origin. This registration or application is known as the basic mark. You have to submit your international application through the same IP Office (IPOS)
4. Before you could file an international application, you should search for identical or similar marks which may already exist (or are pending) in your target markets.
5. If you want to file an international application from Singapore, it can be made using Form MM2(E) and must include the following:
   • Administrative fee to IPOS: S$250
   • WIPO fees  (in Swiss francs), which depends on:

   a.whether the mark is in black and white or in colour

   b.the contracting party/parties designated

   c.the number of classes of goods and/or services applied for

6. Download and manually fill the application form MM2:online link and submit it to the IPOS which is the IP office of origin through which you are going to submit the international application.
7. IPOS will verify that the application is complete with all the necessary documents and the requirements are complied with.
8. If all the requirements are met, then IPOS will submit your application to the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
9. If the requirements are not met, you will get a letter from IPOS stating that you should provide what is lacking or make amendments within a deadline.
10. When your application is correct, it will be certified by IPOS and will be sent to the International Bureau (IB) for further examination.
11. If the IB's requirements are satisfied, your trade mark will be added in the International Register  and published in the WIPO Gazette. You will also be accorded an International Registration Number (IR No.).
12. If the IB's requirements are not satisfied, you will receive notification from IB to make changes to the irregularities within a deadline. If you failto do so, your application will be abandoned.
13. The International Bureau will send your mark after international registration to the IP offices of the designated countries, where it will be examined substantively.
14. If the designated country’s requirements were met and if it did not face opposition there, your trade mark will be granted protection in that country.
15. Otherwise, you will get a Provisional Refusal of Protection from the IP office of that country. It will state the reasons for refusal with a stipulated deadline mentioned for you to file a response or make amendments.
    

Apply Online

1. Before you could file an international application, you should search for identical or similar marks which may already exist (or are pending) in your target markets.
2. File the trademark application online through the link:online link
   • Click on “Login” button. Then, choose “login with singpass” or “login with corpass”. Register if you don’t have an account. Log into your account by typing the credentials.
   • Fill in the application form with required details and upload the required documents as mentioned in the “Required Documents” section of this page.
   • Pay the required application fees through any payment mode and submit it.
3. If the requirements are satisfied, your application will enter into the Examination stage.
4. If the requirements are not satisfied, you will be notified by the Registrar to provide the required information within a deadline. If you fail, your application will not be processed further.
5. At the examination stage, your application will be scrutinized to check if the mark is registrable
6. If there is any amendment to the application as mentioned by the examiner, you should submit the Amendments form (Form TM27), Amendment fee of S$40 per class (for specification amendments) or S$40 per trade mark (for other amendments) and additional service bureau charges for manual filing
7. If your application is acceptable for registration, the application will be published in the Trade Marks Journal for public inspection for 2 months.
8. If your trade mark application is not acceptable for registration, you will receive an examination report with the reasons for refusal. You need to provide the necessary information or to amend the application within 4 months period. Your application will be withdrawn if you do not do the needful within the deadline.
9. If the trade mark application does not get opposed by any party, your application can be sent for registration.
10. If the trade mark application receives opposition from another party, you will get a copy of the notice of opposition from the opponent. The process will be suspended till the outcome of the opposition proceeding.
11. If the trade mark application is not opposed or if the result of the opposition proceeding is in your favour, you will get a certificate of registration from IPOS.

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Required Documents

When application is made in Singapore the following documents are required:

• The name and address of the applicant
• A clear graphical representation of your trade mark
• A list of goods and/or services in relation to which you want to register your trade mark
• A declaration of your intention to use the mark
  

When application is made outside Singapore the following documents are required:

• Application form
• Singapore has been designated in the PCT International Application
• If the PCT International Application is not in English, a translation of the application into English and a verification of the translation must be enclosed along with the application.
  

Office Locations & Contacts

Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS)
1 PayaLebar Link,
No.11-03 PLQ 1,
PayaLebar Quarter
Singapore 408533
Opening Hours
Mon - Fri, excluding Public Holidays: 8.30am - 5.30pm
Contact link for office:Contact link

Eligibility

• The applicant should be a Singapore citizen and Singapore resident.
• To register your trade mark, it must:
  • be represented graphically
  • distinguish your goods or services from others
  • be distinctive
  • not describe the goods or services, or customary in current language or established practices of the trade
  • not be similar to an existing trade mark on the register
• The following marks cannot be registered.
  • Marks that are very descriptive(e.g. super, best, cheap, one dozen)
  • Marks that are not very distinctive or are common to your trade(ones that are well accepted with your trade and do not distinguish the goods or service you are offering)
  • Marks that could create offence or could promote immoral behaviour
  • Deceptive marks(Those that misrepresent the nature, quality or geographical origin of the goods or services)
  • Marks that are similar to earlier marks
  • Marks that are similar to well-known marks
• To use the Madrid System, you must have a connection with one of its members (known as “Contracting Parties”).
• You must satisfy at least one of the following criteria for entitlement to file an international application from Singapore:
  • Be a national of Singapore;
  • Be a body corporate organised under the laws of Singapore;
  • Have a domicile in Singapore
  • Have a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in Singapore.
  • Have a business  (i.e., a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment) in a Contracting Party
  • be domiciled in a Contracting Party
  • be a national of a Contracting Party
    

Fees

• The fee details can be found below for application in Singapore
  

Application fee of:

• • S$240 per class of goods/services(via online filing , using only pre-approved database descriptions of goods/services ), or
  • S$341 per class of goods/services(via online filing , including non-database descriptions of goods/services),
  • $374 per class of goods/services (via manual filing)
• The fee details can be found in the following link for international application.
  

Fee details:online link

Validity

The trade mark is valid for 10 years.

Documents to Use

The MM2 application form:online link

Sample Documents

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

Processing Time

It may take one year for registration of trade mark.

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type='website'>video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the '&' inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver,
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.gIn the following url 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M' Video ID is 'Y0US7oR_t3M'.

Instructions

• You have to classify the list of goods and services according to the latest International Classification of Goods and Services which is Nice Classification.
• The list of goods and services of the basic mark can be directly imported from your Office of origin’s (IPOS) database, translated automatically and checked.
• Note that you cannot broaden the list of goods and services after submission of your international application, not even the goods and services mentioned in the basic mark.
• If you want to broaden your list after submission, you have to file a new international application.
  

Required Information

• Name
• Date of birth
• Address
• Mobile No.
• Email
• Patent details
• The name and address of the applicant
• A clear graphical representation of your trade mark
• A list of goods and/or services in relation to which you wish to register your trade mark
• A declaration of your use of or intention to use the mark
  

Need for the Document

It is required to register a trademark. It is necessary to register trademark because it prevents others from copying your trademark.

Information which might help

• The scope of your trade mark protection is based on the goods and/or services listed in the application. You should state the exact class number and the appropriate description(s) of the goods and/or services according to the Nice Classification.
• You can use IPOS’ classification database  to search for the correct descriptions to avoid an objection.
  

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

Please explain what are other uses of obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

External Links

• More information:online link
  
• More information:online link
  
• More information:online link
  
• User guide:online link
  

Others

A trade mark is a sign used to distinguish your business’ goods or services from other traders.It can be represented graphically like your company’s name or logo.