Activity Report 2002 Singaporean National Group

Transcription

1 Activity Report 2002 Singaporean National Group MARCH JAN 2003 This report covers the activities of AIPPI Singapore since the last AGM on 20 March ACTIVITIES 2002 has been an active year for AIPPI Singapore. I am setting out the Calendar of Events and will deal with each item separately. Calendar of Events Date Time Venue Event 1. 3 April pm American 2. 6 May pm American Quarterly Tea: Roundtable Discussion Topic: Q167: Current standards for prior art disclosure in assessing novelty and inventive step requirements Presenters: Jason Chan and Winnie Tham Quarterly Tea: Roundtable Discussion 1. Q169: Criminal law sanctions with regard to the infringement of intellectual property rights Presenters: Sheena Jacob, Terry O Connor and Jan de Visser 2. PS Review 2002: The Review Of The Singapore Patents System in 2002 Invitation by IPOS for suggestions May 2002 Submission of suggestions of AIPPI Singapore to IPOS in response to their invitation re PS Review 2002: The Review Of The Singapore Patents System in May pm American Quarterly Tea: Roundtable Discussion Q168: Use of a Mark 'as a Mark' as a legal requirement in respect of acquisition, maintenance and infringement of rights Presenters: Susanna Leong and Jan de Visser 5. 5 June 2002 IPOS Participated at the Roundtable discussion on PS Review 2002: The Review Of The Singapore Patents System in Morris John

2 2. Ian Ng 3. Susanna Leong 6. 7 June 2002 IPOS Participated at the follow up of the 5 June 2002 Roundtable discussion on PS Review 2002: The Review Of The Singapore Patents System in Morris John 2. Ian Ng June 2002 ExCo Meeting in Lisbon 1. Regina Quek 2. Teresa O Connor 3. Susanna Leong Also represented AIPPI Singapore on Working Committee for Q Aug 2002 AIPPI Resolutions adopted at the EXCO Meeting in Lisbon (June 2002) sent to IPOS Aug am Pan Pacific AIPPI Symposium 2002 : 5 pm Hotel IP AS A BUILDING TOOL IN SINGAPORE AND ABROAD 10. Last quarter of October nd January pm American AIPPI Singapore website went live Discussion topic: Case study: Viacom International Inc. v. Elitist Technologies Co Ltd. (Domain Name - MTV ). Presented by: Stanley Lai & Susanna Leong 10 am IPOS Participated in Dialogue Session between IPOS and IP Committee of Law Society and AIPPI Singapore. 1. Teresa O Connor 2. Audrey Yap 3. Francine Tan 4. Adrian Ee 5. Max Ng 6. Winnie Tham Quarterly Teas and Roundtables AIPPI Singapore has continued with the Quarterly Teas and Roundtables for AIPPI Singapore members to come together. 4 were conducted in 2002: the details are: 3 April 2002: Q 167: Current standards for prior art disclosure in assessing novelty and inventive step requirements 6 May 2002: Q 169: Criminal law sanctions with regard to the infringement of intellectual property rights

3 PS Review 2002: The Review Of The Singapore Patents System in May 2002: Q 168: Use of a Mark 'as a Mark' as a legal requirement in respect of acquisition, maintenance and infringement of rights 30 Oct 2002: Case study: Viacom International Inc. v. Elitist Technologies Co Ltd. (Domain Name - MTV ). Q167, 168 and 169 were all Questions on which AIPPI Singapore had submitted a paper on to AIPPI International and these were the subject of debate and resolutions to be taken at the EXCo Meeting in June in Lisbon. Attendance was at an average of about 15 people, peaking at about 30 people during the Roundtable on 6 May 2002 when the Review of the Singapore Patent System was also being discussed. The feedback from these Roundtables has been positive, as the discussion is usually very lively and interesting and broad-based viewpoints were obtained. PS Review 2002: The Review Of The Singapore Patents System in 2002 We were invited by IPOS for feedback on various issues raised regarding the reform of the Singapore Patents Systems. The roundtables was held on 6 May 2002, with many interesting ideas raised, which went far beyond the original scope of the queries being raised by IPOS. These were captured in the suggestions submitted by AIPPI Singapore to IPOS in response to their invitation re PS Review 2002: The Review Of The Singapore Patents System in 2002 on 15 May Our members then participated in 2 rounds of roundtables with IPOS on 5 th and 7 th June June 2002 ExCo Meeting in Lisbon 1. Regina Quek 2. Teresa O Connor 3. Susanna Leong Also represented AIPPI Singapore on Working Committee for Q168 At the ExCo meeting Q167, 168 and 169 were debated and Resolutions were taken by AIPPI. These were sent to IPOS in Aug The Singapore Group has submitted a paper for each of these questions. We were also invited to nominate a Singapore member to be a member of the Working Committee Q Use of a mark "as a mark" as a legal requirement in respect of acquisition, maintenance and infringement of rights. Susanna Leong agreed to and did serve on the Committee. AIPPI Symposium 2002: IP AS A BUILDING TOOL IN SINGAPORE AND ABROAD On 16 Aug 2002 AIPPI Singapore held its annual symposium at the Pan Pacific Hotel entitled IP AS A BUILDING TOOL IN SINGAPORE AND ABROAD. Attendance was about 60 persons, which was at the level projected by the organizing committee and profits were in excess of $3000.

4 We are planning to make this an annual event, and will be holding it again this year at about the same time, i.e. Aug AIPPI Singapore website Our AIPPI Singapore website at went live at the end of last year thanks to the work of Max Ng, Ian Ng and Kevin Theseira, particualy Max who has also agreed to do the updating work for the site. Dialogue Session On TM Matters I am also pleased to report that AIPPI Singapore was invited to and participated in the Dialogue Session On TM Matters with IPOS. The other participant was the IP Committee of Law Society. AIPPI Singapore was represented by: 1. Teresa O Connor 2. Audrey Yap 3. Francine Tan 4. Adrian Ee 5. Max Ng 6. Winnie Tham The issues raised include: 1. Amendments to provide for e-filing of Forms TM 27, TM Proposed Amendments to Fourth Schedule : Scale of Costs 3. Proposed Amendments to Consent Provisions : rules 29, 31 and Deadline for filing Notice of Opposition 5. Post-Grant Opposition instead of pre-grant opposition 6. Publication of marks within 6 months of application 7. Recordal of Licenses to be made voluntary instead of mandatory 8. Notification by IPOS of advertisement of application 9. Grace Period for Renewals without Statutory Declaration A Report has been prepared by the representatives who attended the Dialogue and is uploaded on our website at Activities for 2003: Scientific Work As part of the ongoing scientific work of AIPPI, a further 3 Questions on topical issues of IP law have been released and national group reports are in the process of being prepared: Question Q173 : Issues of co-existence of trademarks and domain names: public versus private international registration systems Stanley Lai, Max Ng, Hilda Ng and Regina Quek

5 Question Q174: Jurisdiction and applicable law in the case of cross-border infringement (infringing acts) of intellectual property rights Sheena Jacob, Morris John with contributions from Jan de Visser Question Q175: The role of equivalents and prosecution history in defining the scope of patent protection Introduction Jason Chan, Winnie Tham and contributions from Jan de Visser A series of Roundtables will be scheduled for 2003 on each of these topics. The first of the series commences on 11 Mar 2003 at the American and notices have been sent to all the members. The topic will be Q175. Symposium We will also be organizing our symposium later this year, so look out for the notices. We look forward to maximum participation from all our members. Membership At the moment, membership stands at 13 corporate members and 39 individual members, totaling 52 members. Optimal 2003 AIPPI International is supporting organization for Optimal 2003, which is organized by IPOS and JPO. AIPPI International has therefore been allocated half a booth space as well as 2 seats at this Conference, which has been assigned to us by AIPPI International. I shall come back on this once we have more details. I shall also be speaking at this event. Submission of AIPPI Singapore of an invitation to AIPPI for the hosting of the Executive-Committee Meeting & Forum in 2007 in Singapore The Committee of AIPPI Singapore has considered and has resolved unanimously to submit an invitation to AIPPI International for the hosting of the ExCo Meeting and Forum 2007 in Singapore. Event Managers I have considered a number of different event managers and have short-listed the proposals of Pacific World and CEMS (Conference & Exhibition Management Services Pte Ltd). Public Funds- STB I have also met with the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) who have also indicated their interest, and willingness to lend assistance and support in the nature of public funding for local groups like us seeking to host events that will attract foreign visitors in Singapore. I have also ascertained that we will likely not have any difficulty in meeting their minimum requirements regarding proportion of foreign visitors nor the minimum number of countries where they must be from. A formal invitation comprising one bound volume and a CD ROM (5 sets of each) have been sent to AIPPI by the deadline of 14 Feb 2003.

6 Regina Quek President. AIPPI Singapore February 19, 2003