In Singapore, a patent application may be filed as a national patent application for which convention priority may be claimed or as a national phase entry of a PCT application.

The deadline for filing an application claiming priority is 12 months from the priority date, which period is unextendable.

The deadline for filing a PCT national phase application whether via Chapter I or Chapter II is 30 months from the PCT filing date, or priority date if priority is claimed and this period is extendable by up to three months as of right upon payment of extension fees or longer in some circumstances with the consent of the Registrar.

No documents signed by the applicant or inventors are needed for filing patent applications in Singapore.

This explanation applies only to national patent applications filed after July 1, 2004.

The minimum requirements for filing a national Singapore Patent Application:

1. Identification of the applicant.

2. Specification and drawings if appropriate. These can be informal but must be legible.

3. If priority is claimed, the priority date and country of filing.

4. If the invention relates to a microorganism, deposit of the culture has been made with any international depositary authority.

2. The priority number if not previously supplied.

3. Name, address and nationality of the inventor(s), how the applicant is entitled (by virtue of employment or assignment, for example) and confirmation that the inventor(s) were not resident in Singapore at any time during the period of invention.

4. In the case of a microorganism, the name of the international depositary authority, the date the culture was deposited, the accession number of the deposit.

The deadline for filing (1) is set by the Singapore Patent Office in an official action after filing, and normally a deadline of at least two months will be given to meet the objections raised in the official action. This deadline is extendable with the consent of the Registrar.

The deadline for filing (2)-(4) is 16 months from filing or priority if claimed. This deadline is extendable by up to three months as of right upon payment of a fee and may be extended further in extenuating circumstances and with the consent of the Registrar.

For PCT applications entering the national phase in Singapore, we need the following to get a filing date:

1. The front page of the PCT application as published with details of any subsequent bibliographic changes;

2. Instructions as to whether the application is for Chapter I or Chapter II national phase entry.

3. Item (6) below, if the PCT application is not in English.

1. A full copy of the PCT application as published.

2. A copy of the Search Report together with a copy of the IPRP (Chapter I).

3. Forms PCT/IB/306 from WIPO confirming any bibliographical changes (such as change of applicants) made during the International Phase.

4. If the applicant is a US company, the State of Incorporation.

5. If International Preliminary Examination of the application has been requested, a copy of the Demand and a copy of the IPRP (Chapter II) if this has issued, together with any annexed pages. Please note it is particularly important that you inform us if the application for entry to the national phase is via Chapter I or Chapter II. In this respect, in order to assist us in verifying this, please always be certain to send us a copy of the Demand if the national phase entry is via Chapter II.

6. If the PCT application is not in English, separate translations of (i) the application as originally filed, of (ii) any amendments to the claims filed under Article 19 and (iii) any amendments to the specification filed under Article 34 (usually annexed to the International Preliminary Examination Report or IPRP issued under Chapter II). The translations must be filed when the application for entry to the national phase is made. Such translations should preferably be under cover of a signed verification by the translator. However, the translations may be filed initially in unverified form (for example using a fax copy) with verified versions following within two months of the deadline for entry to the national phase.

7. If the names and addresses of the inventors were provided on the PCT Request, there is no need to file a Declaration of Inventorship in the national phase. However, if these details were not provided, for example if the inventor’s complete addresses were not provided, it is necessary to file a Declaration of Inventorship within two months of the deadline for entry to the national phase therein and thus we will need the information noted above in paragraph (c) under “National Applications” from you.

8. Copies of the citations raised in the International Search Report, if examination needs to be requested, as discussed on the next page.