On 10 June 2026, the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore issued two circulars aimed at making the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) and Global Patent Prosecution Highway (GPPH) more attractive to applicants and clearer to administer.
The first, Circular No. 2/2026, introduces two changes. From 1 July 2026, IPOS will endeavour to issue the first office action within six months of a PPH request being filed, a marked improvement on the roughly ten months previously expected. And from 3 August 2026 to 31 December 2027, applicants filing a PPH request together with a new request for search and/or examination need only pay 70% of the prevailing official fee upfront, rather than paying in full and claiming back 30% afterwards as under the existing arrangement announced in Circular No. 4 of 2025. In practical terms, the fee for a Form PF11 request falls from S$2,050 to S$1,435, and for a Form PF12 request from S$1,420 to S$994; the same S$1,435 figure applies where the applicant has entered the national phase and an International Search Report or International Preliminary Report on Patentability has already been established by IPOS. Applicants who made a PPH request before 3 August 2026 remain covered by the existing 30% refund arrangement under Circular No. 4 of 2025.
The net financial benefit to applicants is unchanged either way; what has changed is that they no longer need to wait for a refund. Combined with Singapore’s PPH network of more than 30 partner offices, including China, Japan, Korea, the United States and the European Patent Office, the route remains a compelling one: a 94% likelihood of grant in Singapore, and roughly seven in ten applications granted at the first office action. Applicants who would rather use IPOS as the office of first search and examination, and rely on that report elsewhere, continue to have that option through ASPEC, the Collaborative Search and Examination programmes with Vietnam and Indonesia, and the re-registration arrangements with Cambodia and Laos.
The second circular, Circular No. 3/2026, clarifies how the Invitation to Amend (ITA) mechanism, in place since April 2022, applies to PPH and GPPH applications. An ITA is issued by the Registrar in lieu of a written opinion, inviting the applicant to amend the application to address one or more prescribed matters identified during examination — typically where those matters could be resolved by minor amendments, to bring the case to grant. Since September 2023, applicants seeking PPH or GPPH treatment have not needed to withdraw and refile Form 11 or Form 12 simply to conform the Singapore claims to the corresponding foreign allowable claims. Instead, the applicant files the search and/or examination request, then separately requests PPH or GPPH treatment indicating that conforming amendments are required; provided examination has not yet commenced, the Examiner considers whether those amendments would resolve any prescribed matters and, if so, may ask the Registrar to issue an ITA. Where an ITA issues, the applicant has two months to respond, failing which a written opinion or examination report follows.
For applicants and associates managing Singapore filings as part of a wider portfolio, both circulars are worth noting — particularly the discounted fee window opening on 3 August 2026, which rewards early planning. We would be glad to discuss how these changes might apply to your applications.