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Rules Changes Brings Better Protection for Non-traditional Marks
10 September 2012
Amendments to Singapore’s Trade Marks Rules have brought about an increase to official trademark fees, changes to classification and improved protection for non-traditional marks, says a Baker & McKenzie client alert by Andy Leck and Angeline Lee.
Restrictions on how non-word marks must be claimed have been relaxed to cater for more adequate protection of such marks, Leck and Lee say.
“As of November 1, requirements to specify that a three-dimensional or colour mark is being claimed and the number of views of a three-dimensional mark to be provided have been removed,” Leck and Lee said. The amendments to Rules 15 and 16 of the Trade Marks Rules have resulted from the amendment to the Regulations concerning the details of a trademark application under the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks.
“These amendments are intended to capture various types of non-traditional trade marks applications in addition to three-dimensional shape marks and colour marks by allowing more adequate means of the representation of non-traditional marks which avoid procedural requirements that would be too prescriptive or onerous given the nature of such marks,” they said. “[Owners should] consider if existing protection for non-traditional marks is adequate given the previous restrictions imposed on the scope of claims to such marks.”
The firm also noted that new trademark applications filed from January 1, 2012, must comply with the Tenth Edition of the Nice Classification, while the Ninth Edition of the Nice Classification will continue to apply to applications filed before that date. Lee and Leck said there will be no reclassification of goods and services for existing applications filed prior to January 1.
“With the changes to the classification system, it is crucial in ascertaining the risk of infringing third party rights, that your clearance searches cover the relevant classes under the old classification system,” they said.
As of December 1, the official trade mark filing fees have been increased by about 10%. For example, the official fees for filing an application have been increased from S$310 to S$341 (US$247 to US$272) per class, while the official fees for filing an opposition have increased from S$340 to S$374 per class.
