The Singapore Intellectual Property Office (IPOS) has announced a series of initiatives to support industry 4.0 with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and signed 6 Memorandandums of Understanding (MOU) during the Intellectual Property Conference (IP Week @ SG 2019).

In the press release, IPOS announced that Singapore and eight other ASEAN Intellectual Property (IP) offices would prioritize patent applications for cybersecurity and robotics, with a two-year pilot project starting on August 27th.

Through this initiative, the applicants are given additional six months for the first action under the new ASEAN Industry 4.0 Infrastructure and Manufacturing Patent Examination Initiative (ASPEC-AIM).

The applicants may also use reports from the ASEAN International Patent Cooperation Agreement and the International Preliminary Examination Authority to expedite applications in another ASEAN country through the Patent Cooperation Agreement between the 9 states members of the ASEAN .

This pilot project will last for three years, starting on August 27.

In addition, Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd received an artificial intelligence patent for a record three months, following an accelerated IPOS initiative.

At the same time, IPOS signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK Intellectual Property Office in support of the Partnership for the Future framework.

They also signed an Agreement on coordination arrangements and protection and commercialization with the National Institute of Industrial Property in Brazil, for their projects in the field of artificial intelligence (IA) and intellectual property (IP), and bilateral economic engagements with the Qatari Office for free zones.

The Corporation of  industrial engagement of IPOS and IPOS International have signed an Agreement with China’s state-owned Intellectual Property Protection Agency to develop daily seminars and training programs in the field of intellectual property protection, commercialization and management of Chinese enterprises.

This follows the establishment of IPOS International to help businesses grow through the commercialization of their IA and IP.

The other agreements include an implementation plan with the Vietnam Intellectual Property Office and an extension of patent sharing procedures with China’s National Intellectual Property Administration by August 2021.