With Singapore well on the road to becoming a Knowledge Economy, creating, protecting and exploiting your Intellectual Property (IP) will become increasingly critical. But what exactly is IP? How can you maximise its benefits? Associate Professor Loy Wee Loon, Faculty of Law, NUS, shares her experiences with us.

What is IP?

IP is basically an intangible asset that is the product of the human intellect. There are many different types of intellectual assets, including an invention, a piece of writing, art, or music, a design and brand names. The creator of an IP owns it in a similar manner as if it were a physical property: he/she is able to control its use, to exploit it and be rewarded accordingly when others use it. However, it is important that one does not get confused between owning the IP and owning the physical embodiment of the IP. For example, when you purchase a book, you own the physical book, but not the IP right in the text (which is copyright); the latter remains with the author. Should you photocopy the text of this book, you would be infringing on the author’s copyright.

What are the different types of IP?

There are various different types of IP, as there are different types of intellectual assets. There are four main types of IP in Singapore: Patent, Copyright, Industrial Design and Trademark. Let me elaborate a little on each one:

Patent – A patent protects new and non-obvious inventions which have an industrial application. A patentee has a 20-year monopoly over his/her patented invention. To get a patent, you need to apply to the patent office; in Singapore, that would be the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS). Patent rights are territorial, which means that you must apply for a patent in the country in which you want protection. For example, if you invent a new technology and you realise that the markets for your invention are the U.S. and Japan, you should be thinking about applying for patent protection in the U.S. and in Japan.

In recent times, patents have attracted a lot of interest because of the two buzz words – infocommunication and biotechnology. The advancements in these areas are often the subject-matter of patent protection. That is why we read or hear about the controversies surrounding patents over business method on the Internet such as Amazon.com’s one-click service and patents over gene sequences, genetically engineered organisms and vectors.

Copyright – A copyright protects subject-matter such as original literary works (text, computer programmes, song lyrics etc), music works (tunes), dramatic works (plays) and artistic works (paintings, sculptures, photographs etc), films, sound recordings and broadcasts. The copyright owner has control over certain uses of their copyright work, in particular the right to reproduce the work. You do not have to register your work to enjoy copyright protection; there is no registry of copyright in Singapore. You get a copyright in your work from the moment the work is created and recorded. The duration of copyright protection can vary depending on the type of subject-matter. For example in Singapore, the copyright protection for original literary works lasts for the lifetime of the author and 50 years thereafter. Under the latest Free Trade Agreement with the U.S., Singapore has agreed to increase this by another 20 years.

Interest in copyright has also grown, as technology advancements continue to make dissemination and reproduction of copyright works easier. The Internet, for example, has changed the way in which the public can get hold of copyright works such as music

Industrial Design – A registered design protects new designs industrially applied to an article. The registered proprietor has a 15-year monopoly over his registered design used in relation to the article in respect of which the design is registered.

Trademark – A trademark is a sign used as a marketing tool to enable the public to identify that a product comes from a particular trade source. Examples include brand names, logos, slogans, and shapes. Under the Free Trade Agreement with the U.S., Singapore has agreed to allow smells and sounds to be registered as trademarks. Trademarks can be very important assets to a company. For example, ‘Singtel’ has been valued at $3 billion, ‘Singapore Airlines’ at $380 million, and F&N at $95 million !

Why is IP so important?

Nations are rapidly realising that the creation, protection and exploitation of intellectual assets is critical in boosting economic progress. In Singapore, with the lack of natural resources, our competitive edge is to manage our IP for maximum benefits. Developing an innovative, creative environment that encourages the development of IP will allow us to be a global player.

How does IP affect me?

If you are a creator/owner of IP, you can reap significant financial benefits from proper management and exploitation of your IP..If you are standing on the other side of the fence, as a user of IP, you should still be aware of IP because you do not want to be found infringing another’s IP rights, for example by downloading music illegally, photocopying an entire book, or making illegal copies of software. 

On a bigger scale, IP can have very positive benefits on a society. Having effective means of protecting and rewarding those who create  intellectual assets will encourage further creation and development of new intellectual assets which can enhance and even change the course of mankind, whether they be life-saving drugs or music and works of art..

How did you get involved in the IP scene in Singapore?

I have always been fascinated by the subject, having fallen in love with IP Law which I read in my fourth year at the Faculty of Law, NUS. This fascination continued after graduation, during my short 3-/12 year in legal practice, when I handled some IP cases. I finally decided to pursue this interest, by doing my Masters of Law at the University of London (King’s College), taking as many IP-related course as possible. I have been in academia for more than 10 years now.

In 2000, our Government wanted to build up a bigger pool of patent agents and, to this end, identified the need to develop an appropriate training programme. I worked with Professor Gerald Dworkin, an Emeritus Professor from University of London (King’s College) to design the “Graduate Certificate in IP Law” course, which is a course that patent agent trainees must undergo in order to become a registered patent agent in Singapore.

When the Singapore Government decided to establish the IP Academy as a national agency dedicated to IP education and research (see side bar for more on the IP Academy and its courses), Prof. Dworkin and I were asked to be its Director and Deputy Director respectively. We launched the IP Academy in January 2003, and these last few months have been really exciting and challenging for us!

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This article was first published in The AlumNUS (July 2003 issue), a publication of the National University of Singapore