SINGAPORE – The
Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) announced new initiatives with a wide range of innovation stakeholders to
entrench Singapore as an IP and innovation hub. According to IPOS, the partnerships with insurance
giant Lloyd’s Asia, and NUS School of Continuing and Lifelong Education (NUS
SCALE), will offer enterprises new tools and capabilities to grow their
intangible assets and commercialize their IP. Thailand’s largest industrial
conglomerate, Siam Cement Group (SCG) through SCG Chemicals Co., Ltd., will
also sign an agreement to leverage on IPOS’ suite of services for business
growth. IPOS will sign the three Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) at IP Week @
SG 2018, one of Asia’s premier IP events.
Enabling Singapore innovative
enterprises to scale global markets with confidence
2. The launch of the Makara
Innovation Fund last year enabled IPOS to provide innovative enterprises with
smart and patient capital to scale up. However, IP and intangible asset driven
growth presents new types of risk that need to be managed differently. IPOS’
partnership with Lloyd’s Asia, the leading marketplace for specialist insurance
and reinsurance, will address the rising global demand from innovative
enterprises for cutting edge protection, in the form of IP insurance, of their
intangible assets and IP. With Lloyd’s global network and expertise in
specialist insurance, enterprises in the region can now look forward to new IP
insurance products from Singapore which will enable them to grow globally with
more confidence.
3. Under the MoU, Lloyd’s Asia will work with
IPOS to introduce IP insurance products which will cater to the needs of
enterprises in attracting capital, averting business interruption and
strengthening negotiating positions when they use IP in the course of their
business. Both parties will also jointly organize a series of seminars reaching
out to 100 companies over a period of two years to promote Singapore as a center
of excellence for IP commercialization, IP rights protection and the
availability of underwriting expertise for IP insurance. [1] As a strategic
business tool, IP insurance allows companies to take on a larger capacity in
managing and mitigating their risks as they commercialize their intangible
assets and IP, and venture into global markets.
4. Ms. Angela Kelly, Country Manager of Lloyd’s
Asia, said, “Intangible assets such as IP now account for a significant share
of corporate value for many companies. Businesses can safeguard this highly
valuable asset through IP insurance to help mitigate the risks of IP
infringement, including defraying legal costs of possible subsequent IP rights
enforcement. In 2016, there were over 50,000 trademark registrations and over
7,000 patent registrations in Singapore alone. As companies in Asia continue
their pursuit and development of innovative ideas and solutions, the potential
for IP insurance will grow in tandem in the region.”
5. Mr. Ng Yao Loong (黄耀龙),
Assistant Managing Director (助理局长), Development &
International Group (开发与国际), Monetary Authority of
Singapore (新加坡金融管理局),
said, “The collaboration between IPOS and Lloyd’s Asia reinforces Singapore’s
position as Asia’s leading specialty insurance hub. This development in IP
insurance is a good reflection of how our insurance sector is innovating and
creating solutions to help Asian enterprises better manage their risks.”
Helping Singaporeans build IP and
innovation related skills
6. As Singapore powers ahead to become an
innovation-driven economy, there will be an increase in the demand for persons
trained in IP and innovation related skillsets. IP Academy Singapore (IPA) –
the training and education arm of IPOS – will launch a Specialist Certificate
in Intangible Asset Management to train Singaporeans in IP and
innovation-related skills. This will in turn create high value-added jobs for
Singaporeans and help enterprises be adept at transforming their ideas into
assets. The new eight-month part-time programmer will not only interest those
already in the IP industry, but also targets those who are new to the industry
and are keen to pick up these skills. The course will emphasize practical
application and have a strong commercial slant, in order to build skills that
can be used to help enterprises integrate their business and IP strategies, and
ultimately take their ideas to the market. The first intake is slated for
January 2019.
7. IPA will also collaborate with
NUS SCALE to curate and deliver executive programmers and master classes for
professionals and enterprises, and work towards developing a new joint
professional certification for IP and innovation skills. The training programmers
will be instructed by a team of experienced faculty members and teaching staff
from NUS and IPA. The joint programmers, together with the Specialist
Certificate, will deepen the IP knowledge and skillsets of the participants as
well as enlarge the pool of skilled IP manpower needed to bolster Singapore’s
position as an IP hub.
8. Professor Wei Kwok Kee (魏国基教授),
Dean (院长),
NUS SCALE (新加坡国立大学持续与终身教育学院),
said, “In today’s global economy, innovation is a differentiator for
enterprises to stay competitive. This makes the value and management of IP more
important than ever. Hence, it is of strategic importance that our nation
continues to elevate our awareness and expertise on IP management. NUS SCALE is
appreciative of the opportunity to partner IP Academy Singapore, an
authoritative academy in its field, to foster innovation among our
professionals and businesses and advance their competitiveness through
high-quality IP education.”
Servicing the flow of ideas and
innovation ‘from Singapore, through Singapore’
9. Asia has seen tremendous
growth in innovation related activities, with six out of ten IP filings now
originating from Asia. This growth has been driven largely by China, which is
now the world’s largest filer of patents, reaching 1.3 million in 2017 - more
than what the US, EU, Japan and Korea filed together in the same year.
10. As a result of these trends, there is a huge
amount of technology and patent data in the world – close to 40% – that is
available only in the Chinese language. IPOS is the only office outside of
China that operates bilingually in English and Chinese. As such, we are able to
access and understand technology and patent data from all over the world and
leverage on this to deepen Singapore’s appeal as an IP hub.
11. To leverage on this capability, SCG,
Thailand’s largest industrial and manufacturing conglomerate and a leading
ASEAN multi-national company, will sign an MoU with IPOS to access IPOS’
comprehensive patent search services as well as other services such as IP
related capability building.
12. Mr. Cholanat Yanaranop, Executive Vice
President of SCG, Chairman of SCG Innovation Committee and President of SCG
Chemicals, said, “Known regionally for their efficiency and quality patent
search and examination, Singapore is also one of the only two countries in the
world that can conduct patent searches in both English and Chinese, ensuring
thorough and comprehensive search results which is important when we expand our
product offerings to the world markets”.
13. Elaborating on the three MoUs
and their significance for Singapore’s position as an IP hub, Mr. Daren Tang (邓鸿森),
Chief Executive (局长) of IPOS (新加坡知识产权局),
said, “Our aim is to build Singapore’s innovation ecosystem so that “from
Singapore and through Singapore” IP from anywhere in the world can use this country
as a base to commercialize their IP and access growth markets in Asia and
beyond. These new partnerships will bring cutting edge IP products to the
region, build skills that are needed by enterprises as they innovate, and
position Singapore’s IP hub as one that understands Asian and Western
technology and patent databases. Our initiatives leverage on Singapore’s
traditional strengths as a forward looking, enterprise centered and global
city, but through a new lens of IP and innovation.”
Recognizing innovative
enterprises at annual WIPO-IPOS IP Awards
14. At the opening ceremony of IP
Week @ SG, six winners of the pre-eminent WIPO-IPOS IP awards for 2018 were
announced by Ms. Indranee Rajah, Minster, Prime Minister’s Office, Second
Minister for Finance and Second Minister for Education. These enterprises have
achieved outstanding growth in innovation, transformation and commercialization
through their IP. For the first time, IPOS presented an inaugural Young Achievers
award to encourage enterprising spirit among youths. Two awards were also
accorded by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a specialized
agency of the United Nations.