Patents Act 1994

Patents Act 1994 2020 REVISED EDITION This revised edition incorporates all amendments up to and including 1 December 2021 and comes into operation on 31 December 2021 An Act to establish a new law of patents, to enable Singapore to give effect to certain international conventions on patents, and for matters connected therewith. [23 February 1995: Except sections 104 and 105(1) to (6), (8) and (9)] PART 1 PRELIMINARY Short title 1. This Act is the Patents Act 1994. Interpretation 2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires — “Convention on International Exhibitions” means the Convention relating to International Exhibitions signed in Paris on 22 November 1928, as amended or supplemented by any protocol to that convention which is for the time being in force; “corresponding application”, in relation to an application for a patent (called in this definition the application in suit), means an application for protection filed, or treated as filed, with any prescribed patent office that — (a) forms the basis for a priority claim under section 17 in the application in suit; or (b) is subject to a priority claim based on — (i) the application in suit; or (ii) an application which is also the basis for a priority claim under section 17 in the application in suit; “corresponding international application”, in relation to an application for a patent (called in this definition the application in suit), means an application for protection filed under the Patent Co-operation Treaty that — (a) forms the basis for a priority claim under section 17 in the application in suit; or (b) is subject to a priority claim based on — (i) the application in suit; or (ii) an application which is also the basis for a priority claim under section 17 in the application in suit; “corresponding patent”, in relation to a corresponding application, means a patent granted in respect of the corresponding application by the prescribed patent office in which the corresponding application was filed or treated as filed; “Council for TRIPS” means the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights established under the TRIPS Agreement; “country” includes — (a) a colony, protectorate or territory subject to the authority or under the suzerainty of another country; or (b) a territory administered by another country under the trusteeship of the United Nations; “court” means the General Division of the High Court; “date of filing”, in relation to — (a) an application for a patent made under this Act, means the date of filing that application by virtue of section 26; and (b) any other application, means the date which, under the law of the country where the application was made or in accordance with the terms of a treaty or convention to which that country is a party, is to be treated as the date of filing that application in that country or is equivalent to the date of filing an application in that country (whatever the outcome of the application); “designate”, in relation to an application or a patent, means designate the country or countries (pursuant to the Patent Co‑operation Treaty) in which protection is sought for the invention which is the subject of the application or patent; “Doha Declaration Implementation Decision” means the Decision adopted by the General Council of the World Trade Organisation on 30 August 2003 on the implementation of paragraph 6 of the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health adopted in Doha on 14 November 2001; “employee” means a person who works or (where the employment has ceased) worked under a contract of employment or in employment under or for the purposes of a Government department; “employer”, in relation to an employee, means the person by whom the employee is or was employed; “European Patent Convention” means the Convention on the Grant of European Patents; “European Patent Office” means the office of that name established by the European Patent Convention; “examination” means an examination conducted by an Examiner in relation to an application for a patent to determine such matters as may be prescribed; “Examiner” means any person, organisation, entity or foreign or international patent office or organisation appointed by the Registrar for the purpose of referring any question or matter relating to patents (including the conduct of any search, examination or search and examination, in relation to an application for a patent, whether before or after the patent is granted), and includes any Deputy Registrar of Patents, and any Assistant Registrar of Patents or public officer to whom the Registrar has delegated, under section 5(1), any of the Registrar’s powers or functions under this Act; “exclusive licence” means a licence from the proprietor of or applicant for a patent conferring on the licensee, or on the licensee and persons authorised by the licensee, to the exclusion of all other persons (including the proprietor or applicant), any right in respect of the invention to which the patent or application relates, and “exclusive licensee” and “non-exclusive licence” are to be construed accordingly; “filing fee” means the fee prescribed for the purposes of section 25; “formal requirements” means those requirements of this Act and the rules which are designated by the rules as formal requirements for the purposes of this Act; “international application for a patent” means an application made under the Patent Co-operation Treaty; “international application for a patent (Singapore)” means an application of that description which, on its date of filing, designates Singapore; “International Bureau” means the secretariat of the World Intellectual Property Organisation established by a convention signed at Stockholm on 14 July 1967; “international exhibition” means an official or officially recognised international exhibition falling within the terms of the Convention on International Exhibitions or falling within the terms of any subsequent treaty or convention replacing that convention; “inventor”, in relation to an invention, means the actual deviser of the invention and “joint inventor” is to be construed accordingly; “journal” has the meaning given by section 115(4); [Deleted by Act 33 of 2021 wef 14/01/2022] “marketing approval”, in relation to a pharmaceutical product, means — (a) a product licence under section 5 of the Medicines Act 1975 granted before 1 November 2016; or (b) a registration under Part 7 of the Health Products Act 2007 granted on or after 1 November 2016; “medicinal health product” means any health product within the meaning of the Health Products Act 2007 that is prescribed as a medicinal health product; “medicinal product” means — (a) a medicinal product within the meaning of the Medicines Act 1975; or (b) a medicinal health product; “missing part”, in relation to an application for a patent, means — (a) any drawing; or (b) any part of the description of the invention for which the patent is sought, which was missing from the application at the date of filing of the application; “mortgage”, when used as a noun, includes a charge for securing money or money’s worth and, when used as a verb, is to be construed accordingly; “Office” means the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore incorporated under the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore Act 2001; “Paris Convention” means the Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property signed at Paris on 20 March 1883; “patent” means a patent under this Act and includes a patent in force by virtue of section 117(3); “Patent Co-operation Treaty” means the treaty of that name signed at Washington on 19 June 1970; “patented invention” means an invention for which a patent is granted and “patented process” is to be construed accordingly; “patented product” means a product which is a patented invention or, in relation to a patented process, a product obtained directly by means of the process or to which the process has been applied; “person” includes the Government; “pharmaceutical product” means a medicinal product which is a substance used wholly or mainly by being administered to a human being for the purpose of treating or preventing disease, but does not include — (a) any substance which is used solely — (i) for diagnosis or testing; or (ii) as a device or mechanism, or an instrument, apparatus or appliance; or (b) any substance or class of substances specified in paragraph 2 or 3 of the Schedule; “prescribed form” means a form published by the Registrar under section 115A; “priority date” means the date determined as such under section 17; “published” means made available to the public (whether in Singapore or elsewhere) and a document is taken to be published under any provision of this Act if it can be inspected as of right at any place in Singapore by members of the public, whether on payment of a fee or not, and “republished” is to be construed accordingly; “register”, when used as a noun, means the register of patents maintained under section 42 and, when used as a verb, means, in relation to any thing, to register or register particulars, or enter notice, of that thing in the register and, when used in relation to a person, means to enter the person’s name in the register; “registered foreign patent agent” means a person whose name is entered in the register of foreign patent agents kept in accordance with the rules made under section 104; “registered patent agent” means a person whose name is entered in the register of patent agents kept in accordance with the rules made under section 104; “Registrar” means the Registrar of Patents and includes any Deputy Registrar of Patents holding office under this Act; “Registry” means the Registry of Patents established under this Act; “related national phase application”, in relation to an application for a patent (being an international application for a patent (Singapore) that has entered the national phase in Singapore under section 86(3)), or a new application filed in accordance with section 26(11) which derived its filing date from an international application for a patent (Singapore) (called in this definition the application in suit), means an application for protection treated as filed with any prescribed patent office (being an international application for a patent (Singapore) that has entered the national or regional phase in the country or jurisdiction the patent office of which is that prescribed patent office) which is derived from the same international application for a patent (Singapore) (being an international application for a patent (Singapore) that is not subject to any priority claim) as the application in suit; “related national phase patent”, in relation to a related national phase application, means a patent granted in respect of the related national phase application by the prescribed patent office in which the related national phase application was treated as filed; “relevant authority”, in relation to a pharmaceutical product, means the Health Sciences Authority established under the Health Sciences Authority Act 2001; “relevant health product” means a patented invention which is a product referred to in — (a) paragraph 1(a) of the Doha Declaration Implementation Decision; or (b) paragraph 1(a) of the Annex to the TRIPS Agreement; “right”, in relation to any patent or application, includes an interest in the patent or application and, without prejudice to the foregoing, any reference to a right in a patent includes a reference to a share in the patent; “scientific adviser” means any person with any scientific qualification, any medical practitioner, engineer, architect, surveyor, accountant, actuary and any other specially skilled person; “search” means a search conducted by an Examiner in relation to an application for a patent to discover such matters as may be prescribed; “supplementary examination” means a supplementary examination conducted by an Examiner in relation to an application for a patent to determine such matters as may be prescribed; “TRIPS Agreement” means the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, set out in Annex 1C to the WTO Agreement, as revised or amended from time to time; “WTO Agreement” means the World Trade Organisation Agreement signed in Marrakesh in 1994 as revised or amended from time to time. [2/2007; 18/2008; 20/2009; 15/2012; 4/2014; 40/2019] (2) Rules may provide for stating in the journal that an exhibition falls within the definition of “international exhibition” in subsection (1) and any such statement is conclusive evidence that the exhibition falls within that definition. (3) For the purposes of this Act, a matter is taken to have been disclosed in any relevant application within the meaning of section 17 or in the specification of a patent if it was either claimed or disclosed (otherwise than by way of disclaimer or acknowledgment of prior art) in that application or specification. (4) For the purposes of this Act — (a) a claim is related to another claim if — (i) the 2 claims are identical; or (ii) each limitation in the second claim — (A) is identical to a limitation in the first claim; or (B) differs from a limitation in the first claim only in expression but not in content; and (b) more than one claim may be related to a single claim. (5) References in this Act to an application for a patent, as filed, are references to such an application in the state it was on the date of filing. (6) References in this Act to an application for a patent being published are references to its being published under section 27. (7) References in this Act to the Paris Convention or the Patent Co‑operation Treaty are references to that Convention or Treaty or any other international convention or agreement replacing it, as amended or supplemented by any convention or international agreement (including in either case any protocol or annex) to which Singapore is a party, or in accordance with the terms of any such convention or agreement and include references to any instrument made under any such convention or agreement. (8) The Arbitration Act 2001 does not apply to any proceedings before the Registrar under this Act. Application to Government 3. This Act binds the Government.