The latest developments and practice trends of patent laws in 7 Asian countries

The latest developments and practice trends of patent laws in 7 Asian countries

India: In the past 10 years, the Indian Patent Law has been amended 9 times, the main contents of which include:

• Encourage SMEs and start-ups (including foreign companies) to file patent applications in India. The Indian Patent Office will grant qualified SMEs and start-ups up to 80% of official fee reductions, and can request accelerated examination, electronic applications and simplify the submission of priority documents. If a patent application is not filed within the official specified period, a grace fee can be paid during the grace period to ensure rights;
• After India implemented the Startup Intellectual Property Protection Plan (SIPP), patent applications from start-ups increased significantly.

Indonesia:

• Indonesia has now fully implemented electronic applications, with an average authorization time of 4-6 years. However, if a PPH request is made through the examination highway between Indonesia and Japan, Indonesia and South Korea, or the ASEAN cooperation program ASPEC is proposed, it can be shortened to 2-3 years.
• In Indonesia, if patent infringement occurs, civil or criminal liability must be borne. However, since there are only 5-10 invention infringement lawsuits in Indonesia each year, judges have relatively little experience in handling patent infringements. If you apply for an invention patent application and a design patent application in Indonesia at the same time, you will get a faster trial result by requesting relief for infringement of the design patent than for the invention. In other words, in Indonesia, designs can be more effectively protected.

Malaysia:

• Malaysia amended its patent law in 2022, with a particular focus on the relevant provisions on the deposit of microorganisms after Malaysia joined the Budapest Treaty on June 30, 2022. If the applicant deposits the microorganism in a member state of the Budapest Treaty, he or she can be exempted from the obligation to preserve the microorganism in Malaysia. The applicant can complete the microbial preservation before applying and can complete the correction of the microbial preservation certificate within 16 months from the date of application.
• Requests for accelerated examination in Malaysia include PPH requests, EEP requests and ASPEC requests. EEP requests refer to requests made when a patent applicant faces the risk of infringement. The applicant must state the specific reasons and provide relevant evidence when making the EEP request.

the Philippines:

• The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines encourages the country's innovative development through various intellectual property policies. In the Philippines, requests for accelerated examination include PPH requests and ASPEC requests, and patent authorization can be obtained within 14 months at the earliest.
• The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines has provided many improvement measures to enhance the quality of patents, including the establishment of the examiner elective course system LMS, quality assessment PARS, examination opinion templates, 3-level quality review and quality management system QMS.

Singapore:

• The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) is responsible for the examination of patents and trademarks. Applicants can apply and search in both Chinese and English.
• Singapore has joined the GPPH Global PPH System, where applicants can use various accelerated examination mechanisms to obtain patent authorization faster;
• Singapore is positioned as a global IP dispute resolution center. In 2015, it established Asia's only International Commercial Court. The infringed party can file a claim for infringement damages, patent validity, injunction, etc. with the Commercial Court, and the case can be concluded within 1.2-2 years. The judges of the court have both IT and IP professional backgrounds and are good at resolving disputes quickly.

Thailand:

• The substantive examination period for invention patents in Thailand has been shortened to 3 years from the date of application, and mechanisms such as the pre-grant disclosure system have been added;
• Thailand is preparing to join the Hague Agreement, introducing derivative designs and partial designs, and extending the patent protection period to 15 years;
• In order to cooperate with TRIPS 31bis to introduce relevant provisions such as compulsory authorization of pharmaceuticals and WIPO genetic resources, the legislative amendment process is expected to be completed by the end of 2024;
• The protection period for Thailand's petty patent is 10 years, which can protect products and methods. The examination time for Thai invention patents is as long as 5-10 years, but since petty inventions are not examined for novelty, the examination time is only 1-3 years. In practice, applicants can obtain patent protection faster by using petty patents.

Vietnam:

• Vietnam amended its patent law in 2022, including adding provisions that novelty will not be lost, adding that any third party can file an objection request within 9 months after the authorization announcement, adding provisions that during the patent examination process, reference can be made to the search and examination results of foreign similar patents, and adding relevant provisions on rejection decisions for refusal of rights protection and invalidation of patents.