Trademarks are a type of intellectual property of a company, business or an organization in Singapore. The trademarks are designed to uniquely identify a brand using the brand name, symbol (i.e., logo), designs and other exclusive products. Trademarks in Singapore offer a distinctive edge to the business allowing to clients, customers and other competitors to identify the goods, services offered and products produced by the company.
Singapore has numerous small and medium-scale enterprises (SME's) that nearly contribute to fifty per cent of the GDP. While most of the companies have their own identity, they don't understand the importance of registering their trademarks with the Trademark office. The main reasons are due to lack of time, no documentation of resources, and lack of understanding of the process. Registering your trademark provides your Singapore Company with a competitive edge in the market while your brand, products, innovation and services are protected under law.
Why Register your Trademarks in Singapore?
As a company registered in Singapore, it is highly recommended to register the company’s trademarks with the Singapore Intellectual Property Office. Registering the trademarks with the system secures your identity in the market by offering protection to your products or services that are indicated by its unique characteristics and quality. A registered owner of a trademark has the complete statutory right to use and exploit the mark in the jurisdiction of its registration giving them the exclusive right to use the marks for their commercial success.
According to Singapore Intellectual Property Office, the trademark (i.e., ™) can be used to indicate ownership of a business or an organization, but the registered sign can be used only by registered trademark owners of the trademark. The trademark can be “any letter, word, name, signature, numeral, device, brand, heading, label, ticket, shape, colour, any aspect of packaging or a combination of these”.
Advantages of Registering your Trademark in Singapore
- Complete right to exclusive usage of the registered mark
- Securing your mark by barring others from copying it
- Benefiting from the increasing market value of the mark
- Offers a quality assurance for your products and services
- Enhance your brand image through special recognition
- Obtain a license for commercial use by third parties, creating a source of revenue
- Enjoy up to 400% tax rebates from the Singapore Government under the Productivity and Innovation Credit Scheme to offset costs you incur for registering your Trade Mark
How to Register your Trademarks in Singapore?
Before registering your trademarks, you should follow specific steps that ensure that your trademark procedure is done effortlessly. We at business setup worldwide offer your trademark registration services with maximum brand protection in Singapore by securing your trademarks at reasonable rates. We customise your trademarks according to the type of industry, classify them according to the trademarks laws which allows you to succeed in your business. By having a well-structured trademark registration, you can securely expand your brand across products, services in Singapore and establish your market.
Step 1: Establish a Distinctive Trademark
Design your distinctive brand name and assets you need to protect for registration. We ensure that there are no existing trademarks or individual marks registered in similar terms.
Step 2: List the Goods and Services Offered by Your Business
The scope of a trademark is often determined by the type of goods and services concerning which the trademark is registered. According to the Singapore IP laws they are classified into a total of 34 classes of industries and 11 classes of services. We carefully guide with the process of selecting your type of business and class of service for the trademark by analysing your current business as well as the businesses & services that you would deliver in the future.
Step 3: Preparing the Paperwork
We help you prepare all the essential documents which are required for applying for the trademark registration in Singapore. In addition to this, we can help you apply for different classes of businesses and services in your trademark application by in-depth analysis of your business requirements.
Step 4: Filing your Trademark Application
After preparing all the paperwork that you need for submission you need to file a trademark application to the concerned authorities.
Step 5: Review and Appeal of your Application
Once you file for trademark, the application will be reviewed by the authorities.
Step 6: Close Examination of Trademark Application
We shall conduct a thorough investigation of your trademarks application with the existing trademarks and establish the legality of the application. By cross-checking, the minor trademark issues regarding generic names and elements can be cleared by our legal experts. By registering the trademark in Singapore, we can ensure that all your trademark applications are in line with the Singapore IP Laws.
Step 7: Successful Registration of Trademark in Singapore
Once all is set and authenticates, your trademark registration will be completed.
Trademark Protection in Singapore
A registered trademark protects your company’s products and services from infringement, imitation, and duplication thereby ensuring that your business has the exclusive right to use the mark while blocking counterfeiters and competitors from misrepresenting your products and services. Besides, violation of a registered trademark is considered a criminal offence under the Trade Marks Act.
Protection for registered trademarks enjoys statutory protection in Singapore under the Singapore Trade Marks Act through which the registered proprietor has specific remedies available to him if his trademark or brand is infringed. Violating the trademarks rules include counterfeiting of products or services, importing and selling counterfeit goods, imitating, copying, duplicating, and infringing the distinctive trademarks. Such kind of trademark infringements can be reported to police, by making a complaint the police, courts and law can protect your trademark in Singapore
If you are interested in applying for a trademark or want to know more about the procedures involved with registering a trademark in Singapore, contact us. Our team in Singapore can assist you with all the information regarding the process, documentation and registration of your trademark in Singapore
