You are able to renew the trademark for another period of 10 years by filing Form TM 19 with the fee of $440.00 on or 6 months before the expiry date. The Form TM 19 can be filed online at https://digitalhub.ipos.gov.sg.

At this portal, you will need to create a new account when you log in with your SingPass if you have not done so.

Once, you have created the account successfully, click ‘Forms’ and proceed to click the description of Form TM 19. You will need to key in the trademark number at Part 1.2 of Form TM 19. Payment online will be made either by credit card or Internet banking.

A trade mark is a sign that you can use to distinguish your business’ goods or services from those of other traders. A trademark must also be distinctive and capable of distinguishing the goods/services of the owner from similar goods/services of other traders.  This sign can be any letter, word, name, signature, numeral, device, brand, heading, label, ticket, shape, colour, aspect of packaging or a combination of these.

To apply for a trademark registration in Singapore, you will have to file TM 4, together with the prescribed fee of $280.00 (via online submission on IPOS Digital Hub platform) for each trademark and for every class of goods or services in respect of which registration is sought. Applicant must have an address for service in Singapore for the purpose of transacting with IPOS (filing of any forms) For foreign individuals/companies with no local AFS, they may enlist the help of an agent or a local to transact on their behalf since a SingPass/CorpPass is also required. For online registration, you will need to create an account prior to the application at https://digitalhub.ipos.gov.sg.

You may wish to conduct a check in our online database prior to the trademark registration free of charge to see if a mark similar to yours has already been registered with the following steps:

1. At https://digitalhub.ipos.gov.sg under ‘Search’, click ‘TM Similar Mark Search

To conduct a more detailed search on the descriptions/specifications of the goods and services, you may wish to carry out the following:

1. At https://digitalhub.ipos.gov.sg under ‘Search’, click ‘TM Goods/Services Search’

For more information about trademark, you can refer to https://www.ipos.gov.sg.

I attached here the link to the trade mark infopack for your easy reference

https://www.ipos.gov.sg/docs/default-source/resources-library/trade-marks/infopacks/TM-infopack-12Oct2022.pdf)

Hope you find the above information useful and please feel free to contact us if you require further assistance.

If there is a change in the company address, please file Form CM 2. This form can be filed online free of charge at https://digitalhub.ipos.gov.sg. You will need to login and create an account if you have not done so. Once you have login successfully, click ‘Forms’ and further click the description of the Form CM 2.

You may apply to cancel a registered trade mark in respect of some or all of the goods or services for which the mark is registered by filing Form CM3 via IPOS Digital Hub (no fee payable).

If you intend to use the mark for a product or service, you should take steps to protect it, even if you have not used it. By registering your mark with IPOS, you will be protected under the Trade Marks Act 1998 (2020 Rev. Ed.) in Singapore.

However, do bear in mind that non-use of a mark may result in a registered mark being revoked. For a mark that is not registered, upon use of the trade mark and the establishment of goodwill in the marketplace, you may rely on the common law action of passing off to protect your mark.

Please be informed that trade mark protection is territorial in nature. A separate registration will have to be made in each of the countries where trade mark protection is desired.

Let me take this opportunity to share with you some information about The  Madrid Protocol application which provides for a system of international registration of marks. The Madrid Protocol is administered by the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, Switzerland. Under the Madrid Protocol, a trade mark must first be registered or applied for in the country of origin before filing for an international application. A country of origin is a country that is a party to the Madrid Protocol where the applicant is a resident or national of, or has a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment. The Madrid Protocol is open to its members only. You may wish to refer to Part 2.1 on International application form MM2 for the selected countries of registration. Thailand is a member of the Madrid Protocol.

An international application must be initiated in a member country seeking trade mark protection in other member country/countries. To apply, an applicant submits a single application to the trade mark office in his home country or the International Bureau of WIPO in Geneva. In his application, he can designate the country or countries in which he wishes to seek protection for his trade mark.

This process produces the same effect as if an application for the registration of the trade mark has been made in each country designated by the applicant. The Madrid Protocol allows a trade mark owner to seek protection for his trade mark in several countries simultaneously by filing one application with a single office, in one language, and with one set of fees in one currency (Swiss francs).

You will have to make a payment of SGD$250.00 (efile) to IPOS. You are required to refer to the Fee Calculator which is available on our website for the exact amount of the selected countries for registration to convert to Swiss Franc currency. Payment is payable to WIPO's account number that is applicable on form MM2 of Part 3.2 Method Of Payment to WIPO. Then after, you will need to print out the amount and make a telegraphic transfer to the bank. The bank will issue you a telegraphic transfer receipt which you will have to make a photocopy and attach together with MM2(E). When efiling, please create a new account at https://digitalhub.ipos.gov.sg if you have not done so.

For the countries that are not member with WIPO, you may consider contacting the embassy for help for apply to register the trade mark directly to the respective IP Offices. An international registration lasts 10 years. It may be renewed for further periods of 10 years by paying the prescribed fees to WIPO via the country of origin.

You should read the terms and conditions relating to the NFT carefully. These can usually be found in the terms of sale and terms of the platform provider. The metadata of the NFT may also provide an indication but you will have to verify if these are intended to have contractual effect.

These terms may specify the IP rights that you will receive, and set out what you can and cannot do with the NFT and the underlying digital asset. If you have any doubts, you should confirm your understanding with the issuer or holder of the NFT (as the case may be) prior to purchasing the NFT.

As discussed here, one should not assume that ownership of the NFT is equivalent to owning the IP rights in the underlying digital asset. Whether you can commercialise the artwork or create derivative artworks will depend on the rights you have acquired as the NFT holder.

For example, the terms of sale may state that by purchasing the NFT, all IP rights in the underlying artwork will be assigned to you, or the terms of sale may only grant you a limited licence in relation to the artwork. In the latter case, you may only use the artwork within the scope of the licence granted. Therefore, if the licence is for non-commercial use, then commercial use will be in breach of the licence.

This depends on whether you own the rights to the underlying asset which will be the subject of the NFT (for example, copyright in the artwork or piece of music). If you do not, you will have to ensure that you have permission to use the underlying asset to avoid inadvertently infringing the IP rights in the asset, such as copyright and trade mark rights, of other parties. See Section 2 in this document.

In a recent case, a rare book was acquired for a large sum of money and the purchaser intended to commercialise the contents of the book through issuing a series of NFTs replicating excerpts of the contents. However, the purchaser was unable to do so, since they had not acquired the copyright to the book’s contents.

If you are the owner of the underlying asset, you may also wish to consider securing appropriate IP protection (e.g. filing for trade mark registration for the underlying asset) so that you are in a position to control unauthorised use of the underlying asset by holders of the NFT. In respect of applying for trade mark protection for your mark in Singapore, you may wish to refer to IPOS’ circular on Classification Practices on NFTs and Metaverse-related Goods and Services.