IN an indication that Singapore is on its way to realising its objective of becoming an Asian Intellectual Property (IP) hub, more than 300 high-paying value-added jobs were created in the sector here last year.
According to the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), jobs were created in four key areas. The legal industry recruited 68 IP lawyers and the technology industry in Singapore employed 100 new IP managers. Also, as a result of more R&D (research and development) offices being established or relocated to Singapore, the IP service providers saw more than 80 new patent and trademark agents coming into the market. Finally, the business advisory service sector hired 54 more business consultants practising IP.
An IPOS spokeswoman said that there is a healthy interest and confidence in Singapore’s IP and innovation landscape. This trend is significant in the light of the announcement by Minister for Law, K Shanmugam, to establish Singapore as an IP Hub in Asia in 2012.
A key driver has been the increase in demand for IP services. More high-technology companies, especially in the area of chemistry and biotechnology are coming to Singapore. Trademark and patent filings at the close of 2013 continued to register positive increase, according to IPOS. The total trademark applications have increased by close to 15 per cent over the past two years amounting to some 40,000 trademark applications last year.
source: businesstimes.com.sg
