China’s State Intellectual Property Office has signed an agreement with the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore to exchange patent data. 

Both parties say that the collaboration will benefit patent applicants and that they look forward to consolidating their ties in order to create more opportunities for inventors and companies.

“It is good if the two offices may exchange data, and I don’t see any drawbacks from the perspective of a patent attorney or of the applicants,” Hui Li, managing partner at Beijing Sanyou Intellectual Property Agency in Beijing, tells Asia IP.

Besides being a highlight in bilateral patent data cooperation, this agreement is also a new achievement of SIPO’s international patent information sharing. With this agreement, two offices would be stronger in patent search and examination, and be providing a wider range of services.