It might be a expensive place to live and somewhat dull but then again its Asian common law cousin isn’t exactly the 1st world international city it’d like to think it is either
So for lawyers the raft of changes and developments that Singapore’s government is making to ensure a hopefully fairer and definitely a more efficient city for commercial arbitration will mean that Hong Kong will soon have to do some serious thinking…
Channel News Asia reports…
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/new-legal-frameworks/1054514.html
SINGAPORE: From Tuesday, companies and entrepreneurs can look forward to cheaper and faster options to settle their intellectual property (IP) disputes.
To enhance the suite of IP services in Singapore, the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) is collaborating with the World Intellectual Property Organization Arbitration and Mediation Center (WIPO AMC) to offer a new option for patent disputes filed at a national IP office.
Patent disputes such as inventorship or entitlement disputes, or patent revocations, often involve complex technical or scientific issues.
IPOS said this new option will allow disputing parties to submit such issues to an expert of their choice to make an assessment.
In contrast, currently, the Registrar of Patents adjudicates all the relevant issues in dispute in patent proceedings before him.
As part of this collaboration, WIPO AMC will assist with the appointment of a suitable expert, if required, after consultation with the disputing parties.
The expert will be chosen from WIPO AMC’s panel of experts from across the world, who have specialised knowledge relevant to IP issues in a broad range of technical and scientific areas.
Some examples of fields from which experts could be called upon are IT, telecoms, pharmacy, engineering and life sciences.
Expert determination is generally confidential and binding.
IPOS added that this option is also very flexible as the parties involved can choose the issues for expert determination.
Alternatively, the parties could also agree on non-binding expert determination to guide their negotiations or even rely on the contents of the expert determination as evidence for their case at IPOS, if parties cannot resolve the dispute between themselves.
Parties enjoy special rates if they opt for expert determination under the auspices of WIPO AMC.
The administration fee is reduced to S$500 and the indicative expert’s rates for 20 to 25 hours of preparation and expert determination per case is S$5,500.
So parties could see a satisfactory resolution of their dispute at around S$6,000 in terms of fees towards the expert and WIPO AMC.
Parties should also enjoy substantial time savings as expert determination takes only 60, 90 or 120 days (as opted by parties) from beginning to end, as compared to full-blown patent proceedings which usually take upwards of a year to conclude.
IPOS said the continued cooperation with WIPO AMC through its only office outside of Geneva is a reflection of Singapore’s growing presence as an IP Hub of Asia, and as a venue for IP dispute resolution.
Director-general of WIPO, Dr Francis Gurry, said: “The introduction of the expert determination option reinforces the strong collaborative relationship between WIPO and IPOS.
“This shared commitment to facilitate the resolution of IP disputes which may arise throughout the whole innovation life cycle will definitely benefit IP users, owners and creators.”
Separately, to allow some of the best legal minds in the field of IP in Singapore to contribute towards the development of Singapore’s IP legal landscape, IPOS will also be appointing four IP adjudicators come April 1.
Comprising academics and legal service officers with expertise in a range of IP law topics such as patents and trade marks, these newly-appointed IP adjudicators will preside over IP disputes at IPOS.
This will augment the existing specialist tribunal at IPOS and grow Singapore’s capabilities in the area of IP dispute resolution.
Professor Ng-Loy Wee Loon, one of the appointed IP adjudicators, said: “The IP industry in Singapore plays a significant role in economic development. The appointment of IP adjudicators will hopefully support the growth of this industry.”
Tan Yih San, chief executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, said: “We are delighted to partner WIPO to offer businesses in the region a quick, low-cost and high-quality option for patent disputes.
“We also welcome the appointment of four new IP adjudicators of esteemed standing in the field of IP to augment the hearing of IP disputes at IPOS.
“IPOS will continue to work with our international and industry stakeholders to maintain a strong IP regime to serve IP creators in Singapore and around the region.”
– CNA/ms
