You may file the application Form TM4 together with the prescribed fee. Applicants are required to provide an address for service in Singapore on the form.

With effect from 2 July 2007, you have the option to file (I) multi-class applications or (II) separate applications in different classes for the same mark. For (I), it will bring administrative convenience to you since there is only one trade mark number issued. With consolidated examination reports issued by IPOS, there is only one deadline for you to take note. The trade mark is also maintained as one upon registration. However, if an objection is raised in the examination process, the entire application will be held back. Likewise, if the applicant does not respond within the stipulated deadline, the entire application will also be treated as withdrawn.

Please refer to the Trade Marks Infopack or User Manual For eFiling Form TM4.

Official Fees for filing Form TM4

For online filing:

(i)  Application with class(es) whose specification items are fully adopted from pre-approved database: S$240.00 x number of classes

(ii) Application with class(es) whose specification items are not fully adopted from pre-approved database: S$341.00 x number of classes

 

For manual filing: S$374.00 x number of classes

 

Additional cost may be incurred if you wish to seek professional advice from a trade mark agent/lawyer.

 

If you need to make amendment(s) to the application as directed by the examiner, you may be required to submit the Form TM27 at a fee of S$40.00 per class.

For all trade mark applications lodged with IPOS from 15 April 2019 onwards, we would no longer require applicants to provide the translation and/or transliteration of the foreign words and/or characters appearing in their marks. This process will be automated and applicants need only to enter all the words and/or characters appearing in the mark in text format on the Form TM4. For international registrations designating Singapore, we will attempt to automatically generate the translation and transliteration of the foreign words and/or characters appearing in the mark.

For more information, please refer to Circular No. 4/2019, dated 7 March 2019.

You may submit one application form covering more than one class of goods and/or services. The application form should state clearly the class numbers and the corresponding goods and/or services applied for. The cost of filing will be the filing fees for an application multiplied by the number of classes filed. For example, the cost of filing an electronic application covering a total of five classes whose specification items are fully adopted from the pre-approved database is (S$240.00 X 5) S$1,200.00.

Singapore uses the Nice Classification as prescribed by the Nice Agreement to classify goods and services for trade mark applications. There are 45 classes of goods and services, and the Nice Classification assigns goods to Classes 1 to 34, and services to Classes 35 to 45. You may refer to the Class Headings for general information about the types of goods and services belonging to each class. You may also wish to conduct a classification search on the goods and services that you intend to use in respect of your trade mark using IPOS' Classification Search.

For the registration of your trade mark, you are required to specify the class number and the appropriate specification according to the Nice Classification. You are strongly encouraged to use the pre-approved list of goods and services in our database to specify your goods and/or services as this would avoid objection(s) pertaining to the specification. If the specification of goods and/or services are found to be in the worded too broadly or wrongly classified, we would raise objection(s). Consequently, this would delay the application process and would likely incur additional cost for the amendment of the specification.

You may wish to take note of our Circulars and Practice Directions pertaining to specification of goods/services.

You are not encouraged to list the entire class heading of each class of goods or services as your claim in the specification. Class headings only serve as general indications of the type of goods or services and may not cover all the goods or services in the class. You should state the specific goods or services of interest to you in the application.

If you have applied to register an identical trade mark for any of the goods/services listed in your application in any country which is a party to the Paris Convention or a member of the World Trade Organisation or to which the Minister has made an order under Section 11 conferring a right of priority, you are entitled to register the trade mark in Singapore in priority to any other intervening applications. However, you must file your application in Singapore within six months from the date of the first application in the foreign country. If you want to claim priority, you must indicate your claim in the application form and provide information about the application in the foreign country.

You may also make multiple priority claims within the same application. For example, you may make priority claims with different dates in respect of different classes/goods/services. This information has to be indicated clearly in the application form.

You may indicate the priority claim under Part 7 of the manual Form TM4 or under "Goods and Services" > "Has this trademark been filed in other countries in the past 6 months in respect of the selected goods and services? (i.e. priority claim)" > "Yes" of the online Form TM4.

You may contact the examiner-in-charge to clarify any matter or make an appointment with the examiner to have a discussion.

You may contact the examiner-in-charge to clarify any matter or make an appointment with the examiner to have a discussion.

Where the name of a person appears on the trade mark, the Registrar may require the applicant to furnish the consent of the person, or in the case of a person recently dead, the consent of the legal representative of the person. If such consent is not furnished, the Registrar may refuse to register the mark.

The decision to apply for a trade mark in black-and-white or coloured version lies with the applicant of the trade mark. You may wish to know that if your mark is registered, your mark will be protected as filed.

You may also consider filing for a series of coloured and black-and-white marks if the marks constitute a series. To qualify as a series of trade marks, the following requirements must be satisfied:

(a) Each mark in the series must resemble each of the others in the series in their material particulars, that is, the main features in each of the trade mark must be essentially the same.

(b) The differences between the marks must comprise only matters which, when considered as a separate element of the mark, be non-distinctive in nature.

(c) The differences between the trade marks must not comprise matters which in the context of the trade mark as a whole, substantially affect the identity of the trade marks.

You may refer to Chapter 8 of our Trade Marks Work Manual for a more comprehensive understanding of a series of marks.

A graphical representation means representation by images, lines or characters. The representation must be clear, precise, self-contained, easily accessible, intelligible, durable, and objective.

In relation to a sound mark, you can represent it graphically using musical notation (i.e. staves divided into measures, showing clefs, musical notes, etc.). In the course of examination, further information may be required by the examiner, e.g. a recording of the sound.

A statutory declaration is a declaration sworn before a Commissioner for Oaths or a Notary Public.

You may refer to "Chapter 6 - Evidence of Distinctiveness Acquired Through Use" of our Trade Marks Work Manual to help you prepare and present evidence of use of your trade mark.

You may refer to the sample statutory declaration to file evidence of use to file your evidence.

Your application will be treated as withdrawn. If you wish to reinstate the application, you will have to file Form CM13 (S$100.00 for online filing) together with your response to the objections or requests for clarification as stated in the Registrar's letter. This has to be done within six months from the date of the application was treated as withdrawn.

You can find the publication details of your mark in our Trade Marks eJournal. It will be available for three months from its publication date. After which, you may wish to write in to request for a copy of it in CD format. This is chargeable at S$12.00/copy.

Any interested party may oppose the registration of a trade mark.

To oppose, you (the Opponent) must file a Notice of Opposition (Form TM11) at S$374.00 per class (for online filing) within two months from the date of publication of the trade mark. If more time is required to file the Notice of Opposition, you may request for an extension of time by filing Form TM48 within the two-month publication period. The maximum extension allowed to file a notice of opposition is four months from the date of publication.

In response to an opposition, the Applicant of the opposed mark must file a Counter-Statement on Form HC6 at S$360.00 per class (for online filing).

Prior to the hearing set by the Registrar, each party (Applicant and Opponent) may file a notice of attendance via Form HC1. The fee payable is S$715.00 per class (for online filing) by each party. Failure to file Form HC1 may be treated as not desiring to be heard.

Yes, you can. However if the mark is not registered, you can only rely on the common law action of passing off to protect the mark against imitation or infringement.

You can use the ® symbol after the status of your mark has been updated as "Registered". To check the status of your mark, please use our Online Trade Marks Search.

In cases where the original certificate is lost in post and you did not receive it, you may inform the Registry of Trade Marks in writing and request for a new original certificate of registration.