Designs

You may use the Designs eSearch to search for registered and published designs in Singapore. Alternatively, registered designs are published monthly in the Designs eJournal.

You may also wish to check the designs database of other countries.

The two main costs involved in a design registration would be the official filing fees and your agent's fees (if you engage one). A list of all the prescribed fees is available here.

Specimens or models are not required unless the article to which the design applies is a textile. Rather, a good representation of your design will suffice. You must provide a set of representations of your design, consisting of at least one image and enclose it with your application.

However, if the design is two-dimensional, the Registrar may permit a sample of the design to be accompanied with the design registration application. The dimensions of the sample and the period of submission will be determined by the Registrar.

In the registration form, besides requiring you to state the exact class and subclass, you would also need to specify the article according to the Locarno Classification. To ascertain the names of the articles, please refer to a copy of the Locarno Classification which is available at the IPOS Counter. Alternatively, you may wish to access the WIPO website for the Locarno Classification.

• application form D3;
• representations;
• statement of novelty;
• statement relating to confidential disclosure, if any;
• statement relating to previous registration of design in respect of other articles, if any; and
• claim to priority.

1. you are a national of a State that is party to one of the Acts;
   
2. you are a national of a State member of an intergovernmental organisation that is a party to the Geneva (1999) Act;
   
3. you are domiciled in the territory of a State that is party to one of the Acts;
   
4. you have a habitual residence in the territory of a State that is party to the Geneva (1999) Act ; or
   
5. you have a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in the territory of a party to one of the Acts.

34, chemin des Colombettes, in Geneva, Switzerland.

An international application may also be filed, at the option of the applicant, through IPOS (“indirect filing”). Upon receipt of the international application and the payment of fees (including a transmittal fee), IPOS will forward the international application to the International Bureau.

• in the case of direct filing, the filing date is the date on which the International Bureau receives the international application; and
• in the case of indirect filing, it is the date on which IPOS receives the international application ( provided that the application is received by the International Bureau within one month thereafter).

Filing dates may however be affected by irregularities in filing such as the non-payment of fees or other irregularities in filing.

• Basic fees (for first and additional designs)
  
• Standard Designation fees (for first and additional designs)
  
• Individual Designation Fees (if applicable)
  
• Publication Fees (per reproduction in black & white / colour, per page)
  
• Fee per additional word for long descriptions

You may wish to use the fee calculator which can be found in the WIPO website to assist in the calculation of the fees payable.

If your international application is indirectly filed through IPOS, in addition to the fees payable to the World Intellectual Property Organization, a transmittal fee of S$150 will also have to be paid.

You would also need to pay a transmittal fee of SGD150 which is payable to IPOS. The transmittal fee may be paid via GIRO, cashcard, by cash or by cheque made out to “Intellectual Property Office of Singapore”.

If the international application designates Singapore, the applicant should note that Singapore law requires that designs that are subject of the same application conform to a requirement of unity of design, unity of production or unity of use, or belong to the same set or composition of items, or that only one independent and distinct design may be claimed in a single application.

Under the Geneva (1999) Act, if the domestic legislation of a party to this Act allows a term of protection of more than 15 years; the international registration may be renewed in respect of that State for additional periods of five years, up to the expiry of the total term of protection allowed for such national registrations.