Under a cooperation agreement between the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), the Ministry of Industry & Handicraft (MIH) of Cambodia and the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) of Laos, patent owners in Singapore can request to re-register a Singapore patent in Cambodia and Laos.

The request must be made during the term that the patent is in force in Singapore and the Singapore patent must fulfill the patentability requirements of either Cambodia or Laos.

For Cambodia, the Singapore patent to be re-registered must have a filing date on or after 22 January 2003 whilst for Laos it must be on or after 17 January 2002.

Common requirements for re-registration include furnishing a certified copy of the Certificate of Grant and the final granted specifications. Information on fees and other requirements are available on request.

Collaborative Search and Examination (CS&E) with Viet Nam

This is a pilot programme between IPOS and the Viet Nam Patent Office intended to accelerate the patent search and examination process for applicants/ inventors who wish to file patents in both countries. At this time, this programme is scheduled to operate till 28 February 2025.

Accelerated examination and assessment of patentability of the invention will enable informed decision making and allow applicants/ inventors to fine tune their marketing strategy.

For participation, the patent application must contain no more than 20 claims (including 3 or less independent claims), be first filed in Singapore or Viet Nam with no claim to priority and not be a divisional application. There are also volume limits (monthly, yearly and per entity) for this programme by the patent Offices. Other requirements for participation in this programme are available on request.