Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) and NEC Asia Pacific have launched a new online platform, IP2SG, which consolidates all e-filing processes for patents, trademarks and design applications. In the past, innovators dealt with three different systems to file different types of IP registrations. Other enhancements include the reduction of red tape by removing 30 percent of the forms to be filled, auto-population of data, electronic alerts for key deadlines, uploading of larger files and saving of unlimited drafts before final submission.
The improved e-portal has been introduced on the back of a growing demand for IP services; according to IPOS, Singapore has seen an increase of almost 20 percent in overall patent filings from 7,908 in 2003 to 9,722 in 2013 and a 40 percent increase in trademark filings from 28,262 classes in 2009 to a record 39,671 classes filed in 2013. IP2SG is part of the ongoing efforts to save time and costs in the IP filing process for businesses and creators, thus enabling them to build a competitive edge with IP.
