From the Chief Editor
Intellectual property (IP) is everywhere around us. The laptop you frantically type your assignments on, the music you listen to, that oh-so-fabulous pair of branded sneakers you sashay in – all these contain IP rights (IPR).
IP forms a cornerstone of today’s society and knowledge-based economy. IPR legislation aims to create a balance between private and public interests. When establishing IPR laws, legislators seek to ensure that the rights and obligations of creators and users of IPR are balanced with the social, economic and developmental objectives that governments …

The Government has recently accepted the key recommendations of The Third Committee on the Supply of Lawyers, including: considering setting up a second law school; increasing the intake of students into the NUS Law Faculty; allowing Singaporeans (and PRs) who graduated from recognised overseas law schools with Second Class Lower Division Honours to practise law upon fulfilling certain conditions; and enabling Singapore law firms to recruit outstanding lawyers from abroad under a special scheme to practise limited Singapore law so as to enable Singapore law firms to grow and compete …

Sim Bock Eng, a partner at WongPartnership, shares with Juris his work as a lawyer specialising in IP Law.
Q: What is your scope of work like as a lawyer specialising in IP Law?
It is wide ranging — from the initial protection and exploitation of IP rights to its enforcement. In the exploitation of the IP rights, we could be involved in strategising the expansion of clients’ business overseas and the IP considerations critical to such expansion to ensure that the clients maximise the value of their IP …

Trademark infringement undermines the proprietary rights of the owner and misleads the public consumer. So where should the line be drawn?
A logo speaks a thousand words.
Trademarks serve the purpose of distinguishing a business and its products and services from that of other businesses. They therefore explain why we tend to choose certain goods over others even though the nature of other products is similar. When the distinctiveness factor is of paramount importance, it poses a legal problem when the owner of a registered trademark can no longer maintain exclusive …

In this special interview, the Director-General of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), Ms Liew Woon Yin, shares with us IPOS’ work in strengthening the IP regime and promoting greater IP awareness in Singapore.
Q: We understand that the organisation was called the Registry of Trade Marks and Patents from 1937 to 1999. Why the change of name to IPOS?
The change of name was to reflect our expanded scope to cover a larger range of Intellectual Property (IP) laws in addition to trade marks and patents. It was also …