As Singapore positions itself as a knowledge based economy, the importance of innovation and creativity cannot be undermined. With regard to this, Singapore has come up with many development policies, strategic investment plans and incentives to actively promote research and development and adequate intellectual property rights to protect the innovations arising from them.
Singapore places great emphasis on intellectual property (IP) rights, their protection and enforcements, not only because it is a form of incentives to attract foreign investment, but also because it helps to attract and retain world class researchers and managers.
The different types of IP Rights in Singapore are:
Patent: Patent is the exclusive right, granted by the government, to make use of an invention or process for a specific period of time. In other words, a patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a Government to an inventor or his assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for a public disclosure of an invention.
Copyright: Copyright is the exclusive legal right granted to a writer, editor, composer, publisher, or distributor to publish, produce, sell, or distribute an artistic work. Copyright affects our life almost every day.
Trade Mark: The definition of trademark is any word, name or symbol that is used by a manufacturer or merchant to identify their goods as distinguished from those made or sold by others. Trademarks are of interest to inventors because they offer additional rights to those provided by patents.
Registered Design: Registered Design is "the appearance of the whole or part of a product resulting from the features of, in particular, the lines, contours, colors, shape, texture or materials of the product or its ornamentation."
