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IPOS Pledges to Review and Revise Expired Domestic File-to-Grant Accelerated Patent Application Examination Programme

12 Feb 2025

IPOS-Pledges-to-Review-and-Revise-Expired-Domestic-File-to-Grant-Accelerated-Patent-Application-Examination-Programme.png
(Above graphics and quotation are from www.ipos.gov.sg/about-ip/patents/how-to-register/acceleration-programmes)

For the first time in over a decade, the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) no longer offers a domestic file-to-grant accelerated patent application examination programme. The most recent pilot programme, SG IP FAST, expired at the end of December 2024. As of mid-January 2025, the IPOS website states that IPOS “will review and revise the [SG IP FAST] pilot to better meet the evolving needs of innovators and enterprises in Singapore’s dynamic IP landscape”.
 
IPOS launched its first domestic file-to-grant accelerated patent application examination programme, the 12 Months File-to-Grant (12MG) programme, in August 2014. In its Patents Formalities Manual, IPOS described the 12MG programme as a “performance pledge” to facilitate Applicants in obtaining a grant of their Singapore patent application within 12 months from the actual filing date of the application. The 12MG programme allowed priority claims but excluded national phase entry and divisional applications. The 12MG programme was not limited to any specific technology field and had no limitation on the number of claims submitted by the Applicant for prosecution. The 12-month pledge applied only to patent applications with a first office action allowance. The 12MG programme did not include any limitation on the total number of claims.
 
IPOS added the FinTech Fast Track (FTFT) programme and the Accelerated Initiative for Artificial Intelligence (AI2) programme effective April 2018 and April 2019, respectively. The FTFT and AI2 programmes supplemented the 12MG programme. As detailed in IPOS Circulars, Applicants could expect to obtain a patent grant in “as fast as 6 months” under the FTFT and AI2 programmes. The AI2 programme was limited to AI inventions such as image recognition, speech/voice recognition, natural language processing, and autonomous systems. The FTFT programme was limited to FinTech inventions such as electronic payment, investment platforms, insurance technology, blockchain, banking, security, fraud, and authentication. Unlike the 12MG programme, the FTFT and AI2 programmes were limited to patent applications filed first in Singapore (e.g., without any claim of priority) and 20 or fewer claims.
 
In May 2020, IPOS consolidated the 12MG, FTFT, and AI2 programmes into the SG Patent Fast Track programme. Commencing September 2020, the SG Patent Fast Track programme was expanded to include the acceleration of trademark and registered design applications and renamed the SG IP Fast Track (SG IP FAST). Like the FTFT and AI2 programmes, SG IP FAST was limited to patent applications filed first in Singapore (e.g., without any claim of priority) and 20 or fewer claims.
 
Eligibility for SG IP FAST was not limited to a narrow technology field, unlike the FTFT and AI2 programmes. However, SG IP FAST did require that Applicants state their reasons for requesting accelerated patent application examination and list the technology field to which the claimed invention related. Possible reasons for accelerated patent application examination listed by IPOS in a Circular for SG IP FAST included: (i) emerging technology with a short product lifecycle (e.g., FinTech, Industry 4.0, and Artificial Intelligence); and (ii) technology with an environment or public health cause (e.g., food security, mitigating climate change, wastewater and smart energy management, and therapeutic agents to combat COVID-19).
 
Common aspects of the 12MG, FTFT, AI2, and SG IP FAST programmes included the following:

  • A request for search and examination was required to be submitted on the date of filing.

  • A request for early publication was required to be submitted concurrently with the grant fee.

  • Eligible applications could not be a divisional application or a national phase entry application.

  • Participation did not incur any additional official patent office fees.

 
A key difference between the 12MG programme and the later programmes was that the 12MG programme did not permit office actions. In the event of any Formalities Examination Adverse Report or any Written Opinion, the application filed under the 12MG programme would revert to normal application processing. First office action allowance rates are generally rare, in the range of 5 to 15 percent of original patent applications (see, e.g., http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/yjolt/vol17/iss1/5/). Thus, the vast majority of the applications entering the 12MG programme would revert to normal processing after a first office action.
 
The later FTFT, AI2, and SG IP FAST programmes permitted office actions during the accelerated patent application examination. Within these later programmes, Applicants could respond to a Formalities Examination Adverse Report and at least two Written Opinions before their applications reverted to normal processing. Applicants were given two weeks to respond to the Formalities Examination Adverse Reports and two months to respond to each of the at least two Written Opinions. The two-week response period for Formalities Examination Adverse Reports was shortened from the two-month response period provided during normal processing and the two-month response period for Written Opinions was shortened from the five-month response period provided during normal processing. Only if these shortened deadlines were not met or the application had a third Written Opinion would the application revert to normal processing.
 
Having experimented with various requirements and procedures over the past decade for their domestic file-to-grant accelerated patent application examination programmes, IPOS may now consider potential programme updates to better meet the evolving needs of Applicants. One potential programme update would be an expansion of the eligibility criteria to include applications other than those first filed in Singapore. As with the 12MG programme, for instance, IPOS could expand any newly announced programme to Singapore patent applications claiming priority to other applications. This change would also be aligned with the domestic file-to-grant accelerated patent application examination programmes of the European Patent Office (EPO), the Japan Patent Office (JPO), and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (U.S. PTO).
 
IPOS could also commence the collection of additional official patent office fees for certain types of domestic file-to-grant accelerated patent application examination requests. As an example, the U.S. PTO has two tracks for domestic file-to-grant accelerated patent application examination, the Petition to Make Special (with no fee) and the Track One accelerated patent application examination (with fee). Such an update by IPOS, however, is less probable. The EPO and the JPO do not charge any official patent office fees for domestic file-to-grant accelerated patent application examination requests. Moreover, collection of additional official patent office fees from Applicants would likely require a formal amendment to the Singapore patent provisions. Prior domestic file-to-grant accelerated patent application examination programmes in Singapore have been enacted and governed by IPOS via their publication of “Circulars” or “Notifications”. Amendments to the Singapore patent provisions require enactment by the President of Singapore with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore.
 
Until IPOS restarts a domestic file-to-grant accelerated patent application examination programme, Applicants can leverage the active work-sharing programmes detailed on the IPOS website for a faster examination of their application (see www.ipos.gov.sg/about-ip/patents/how-to-register/acceleration-programmes). These programmes include the Global Patent Prosecution Highway (GPPH) and the ASEAN Patent Examination Co-operation (ASPEC). IPOS also has direct Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) programmes with the China National Intellectual Property (CNIPA), the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI), the European Patent Office (EPO), the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP), the National Institute of Industrial Property of France (INPI France), and the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO).
 
Applicants interested in a faster examination of their Singapore patent application can also refer to the requirements of the expired SG IP FAST programme for guidance. In particular, Applicants can consider implementing one or more of the below prosecution practices:

  • File application first in Singapore.

  • Limit the total number of claims of application to 20 or fewer claims.

  • Request search and examination concurrent with the filing of application.

  • Respond to Formalities Examination Adverse Reports within two weeks.

  • Respond to Written Opinions within two months.

  • Link the claimed invention to an emerging technology with a short product lifecycle (e.g., FinTech, Industry 4.0, and Artificial Intelligence) or a technology with an environment or public health cause (e.g., food security, mitigating climate change, wastewater and smart energy management, and therapeutic agents to combat communicable diseases).

 
By adopting these practices, an Applicant can reduce delays attributable to the Applicant and present the Singapore Examiner with a straightforward patent application for expedited examination.

Disclaimer: This posting is not intended to constitute or to be relied upon as legal advice. You should consult Singapore legal counsel if you require legal advice regarding Singapore patent practice.