New fees for designating Singapore in international trademark applications

WIPO reports about new fees for international trademark applications designating Singapore. These fees will come into force on 08.05.2022 and are as follow:

Singapore joins the Locarno Agreement

WIPO reports about the accession of Singapore to the Locarno Agreement for international classification of industrial designs for the purposes of their registration before the Patent Offices.

The agreement will come into force for the country on 19.03.2020.

Finland signed the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks

WIPO announced the ratification of the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks by Finland. The Treaty will come into force for the country on 07.08.2019.

For more information here.

Apple lost a battle against Swatch in Singapore

Apple failed to stop a trademark application for ‘Tick different’ applied by the Swiss company Swatch in Singapore for class 9 and 14.

The opposition was based on an earlier mark  ‘Think different’ owned by Apple for class 9. The US company argued that the Swatch mark is confusingly similar and filed in a bad-faith.

The Patent Office, however, wasn’t impressed and dismissed the opposition. According to the Office, both signs are not similar due to the differences in their first words which convey different meanings. On top of that, some of the goods weren’t similar too.

Source: WIPR.

EU-Singapore trade and investment agreements

The European Commission published the main elements from the EU-Singapore trade and investment agreements. According to this information what concerns the intellectual property matters is:

The EU-Singapore trade and investment agreements will take EU and Singapore relations to a new level and create more opportunities for EU and Singaporean businesses to grow and create new jobs.

(7)      Protects intellectual property rights

Both the EU and Singapore already have modern systems to protect and enforce intellectual property rights. The trade agreement consolidates this and sets out basic rules on enforcement (other than criminal enforcement), including at the border.

Intellectual property right-holders will be able to get help from customs authorities to detain counterfeit trademarked or GI-protected goods, pirated copyrighted content and registered designs.

On copyright, the agreement provides for equitable payment for both performers and producers of recorded music played on the radio, TV or in places open to the public (such as shops, restaurants, bars)– which will improve the current situation in Singapore.

Singapore has agreed to strengthen its existing geographical indications (GI) regime by setting up a system to register GIs in Singapore. Once registered in Singapore, around 190 GIs for wines, spirits and certain agricultural products will enjoy levels of protection equal to those in the EU thanks to this agreement. This includes Bordeaux wines, Parma ham, Champagne and Bayerisches Bier. Better protection for such products will also improve Singapore consumers’ awareness of authentic top-quality EU GI products.

For more information here.