There are many ways you can adopt to protect your company's IP assets. It ranges from encouraging innovation to registering your IPs (e.g. trade marks, patents) with the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), from having a simple process to restrict access to confidential information to putting in place a rigorous IP management (IPM) process. However, IP owners should consider the cost of IP management and protection alongside the fulfilment of business objectives.

For more information on available financial assistance schemes for SMEs, see FAQ on "Where else can I get help on IP management (IPM)?"

Also see FAQ on "Are there tools to help me manage my IPs?"

Your trade mark is a marketing tool and your trade mark must distinguish your goods or services from others in the relevant industry. You should avoid applying for trade marks that (i) denote the kind, quality, quantity, intended purpose, value, the time of production of goods or of rendering of services (ii) consist of common surnames or geographical names, (iii) conflict with an earlier trade mark (you are advised to conduct a similar mark search via eTrademarks, or (iv) mislead the public about the nature of the goods or services.

In the event that objections are raised against your application in relation to the above, you may overcome the objections by furnishing substantial evidence of use. For more information on providing evidence of use, please refer to FAQ Question 15 under Application in Singapore "I have been asked by the Registrar to provide evidence of use of my trade mark by way of statutory declaration. What is a statutory declaration and how should the evidence be presented?"

You may refer to our work manual for a more comprehensive understanding of marks that are not registrable.

No, an idea of a new invention alone cannot be patented. To qualify for patent protection, an invention has to be applied to a product or process and has to fulfil other criteria such as being new, involving an inventive step and be capable of industrial application.

Companies may find their expansion plans hindered when they expand overseas. For example, there were cases where companies were late in finding out that their company names and trade marks had already been registered by another company. Some may even find themselves being sued for "trade mark infringement" for trade names that they have been using back at home.

Such issues could be avoided if adequate IP management (IPM) practices were part of the company's culture and IP issues were considered as a part of the company's business expansion plans.

Also see FAQ on "How do I manage or protect my IP assets. Will it be costly?"

Successful businesses are leveraging IP to differentiate themselves from their competitors. IP is widely viewed as the driving force in a company for greater innovation in areas such as design, marketing or production. It is also an engine for growth as the company can harness its IP for exploitation to generate substantial revenue. Some examples of IP exploitation are:
- franchising of business formats. E.g. Ya Kun Kaya Toast's franchise.
- licensing technology. E.g. Trek 2000 has licensed its USB flash drive solution.
- licensing content characters. E.g. 'Katakune', a 3D-animated series for children about a seven-year-old silkworm, was sold to CCTV in China and televised in 2006. Singapore company Character Farm owns the registered trade mark of "Katakune" and has since licensed it for merchandise.
- other forms of commercialisation by making use of knowledge gained. E.g. Adam Khoo, a renowned motivational speaker, gives seminars and workshops and publishes books on various topics on self-improvement.

Hence, even if your competitor can copy ideas from one of your products, it is not able to replicate your entire robust system to manage human resource, innovation and IP commercialisation when it is well protected.

Proper deployment of IP management (IPM) can help to bring about good reputation, revenue and market share to the company.

Also see FAQ on "How do I manage or protect my IP assets. Will it be costly?" and "Are my IP assets protected when I venture overseas?"