News Update: IPOS appointed as ASEAN’s first ISA and IPEA under the PCT

News Update: IPOS appointed as ASEAN’s first ISA and IPEA under the PCT


Festina

By Chiong Song Ning (Ella Cheong LLC)

 

The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (“IPOS”) has been appointed by the World Intellectual Property Office (“WIPO”) as an International Searching Authority (“ISA”) and International Preliminary Examination Authority (“IPEA”) under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (“PCT”).   IPOS is the first IP office (out of 19 around the world) to be appointed by WIPO from the ASEAN region, and the fifth in Asia (after China, India, Japan, and South Korea).

 

IPOS’ appointment takes effect from 1 September 2015, and countries which have recognized IPOS as a competent ISA and IPEA (as at 20 November 2015) include United States, Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Mexico, Brunei, Laos, and Thailand.  Applicants filing PCT applications with their IP offices in participating countries may select IPOS as the ISA and IPEA, availing themselves of the technical expertise of IPOS examiners (95% of whom hold PhDs) and the examiners’ ability to conduct searches in both English and Chinese for more comprehensive search results.

 

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