Intellectual Property Border Measures Legislation to Come into Operation on 21 Nov 2022

21 Oct 2022 Posted in Announcements

1. The Intellectual Property (Border Enforcement) Act 2018 (“IPBE Act”) was enacted in 2018 to amend the Copyright Act (“CA”), Geographical Indications Act 2014 (“GIA”), Registered Designs Act (“RDA”) and Trade Marks Act (“TMA”). The IPBE Act implements a phased approach to fulfilling Singapore’s obligations under the European Union-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (“EUSFTA”) to enhance its border enforcement measures. Further details on the IPBE Act can be found here.

2. Under Phase 1, amendments to the CA and TMA to empower Singapore Customs to obtain and provide information relating to seized goods came into effect on 10 October 2018. Under Phase 2, enhanced border enforcement measures relating to the CA and TMA came into operation with the entry into force of the EUSFTA on 21 November 2019.

3. In the third and final phase, enhanced border enforcement measures for geographical indications and registered designs will be implemented. The enhanced measures will come into operation on 21 November 2022, within three years of the entry into force of the EUSFTA.

4. In support of the enhanced measures in Phase 3, the following border measures-related subsidiary legislations will be brought into operation on 21 November 2022.

1. Please note that all current Singapore legislation is available for reference on Singapore Statutes Online at https://sso.agc.gov.sg.

2. For queries, please contact Kathryn Tham (Kathryn_tham@mlaw.gov.sg).

Last updated on 21 Oct 2022