Opening Address by Ms Indranee Rajah, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Law and Ministry of Finance, at the Design Law Reform Conference 2017

19 SEP 2017

19 Sep 2017 Posted in Speeches

His Excellency Scott Wightman, British High Commissioner to Singapore

Professor Simon Chesterman, Dean of NUS Faculty of Law

Associate Professor Ng Siew Kuan, Elizabeth, Deputy Chairwoman and Director of the IP Research Unit, EW Barker Centre for Law and Business, and NUS Faculty of Law

Professor Graeme Dinwoodie, Director, Oxford IP Research Centre, and University of Oxford Law Faculty

Mr David Stone, Research Fellow, Oxford IP Research Centre

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

Introduction

Good morning and a very warm welcome to the Design Law Reform Conference.
To our overseas guests, welcome to Singapore.
I would first like to congratulate the convenors for putting together this Conference. Looking at the programme, I am sure that you all will find the discussions rich and insightful.
Over the next two days, speakers from the design industry, academia, and the IP profession will share their thoughts about various aspects of design protection, and how it supports business growth.
1. Design is an important growth driver in the future economy
Now, more than ever, there is an increasing recognition that design is an important growth driver in the future economy.
So this Conference is a timely one.
The “Design 2025 – Singapore by Design” report was released by the Design Masterplan Committee in March 2016.
1. It envisions Singapore as an innovation-driven economy, and a loveable city.
2. Design will play an important role for us to achieve that vision.
3. It can create good jobs and sustainable businesses in Singapore.
How does good design allow a business to gain a competitive edge, especially in the global marketplace?
1. Firstly, it enhances the value of a product. It has the potential to turn something plain and commonplace into something appealing and inspiring.
2. Secondly, good design is an important means by which a business can differentiate its products from its competitors’.
Take a look at these pictures of the Dendrobium electric car, designed by Vanda Electrics in Singapore. The Chief Designer and Project Director is a Singaporean. The car was conceived and designed in Singapore, and involves designers and engineers from all over the world working together.
Incidentally, the name “Vanda” was inspired by the national flower of Singapore – the Vanda Miss Joaquim.
The design team sought to challenge and re-define what an electric supercar should look like.
The Dendrobium’s suspensions are exposed, similar to Formula 1 cars. The shape of the body brings to mind images of peaks, valleys, bridges and ridges, honeycomb and flowers. Nature is a big inspiration for the design.
When the doors and roof are all opened together, the car resembles a blossoming flower, hence the name, Dendrobium.
As a result of its unique design, it was necessary to think deeper about the engineering and assembly process. One interesting feature is that the car has many small panels. This enables customisation at a lower cost.
To get a better idea of how the Dendrobium looks like, and how it “blossoms”, let us watch a short clip. [Video clip: Dendrobium on a rotating platform, and the doors and roof opening simultaneously.]
The Dendrobium is in further technical development today, and design protection has been sought in various countries through the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (“WIPO”) Hague international design registration system.
Vanda Electrics has another product which, as you can see, is probably more accessible to the man-in-the-street compared to the Dendrobium. This is the Motochimp.
The body shape is simple, allowing individuals to customise their vehicle as they wish. Another feature is a battery system that allows fast-charging in just an hour.
As you can see, the battery system is also the most prominent design feature. Let us take a look at how your day might start with the Motochimp. [Video clip: User unplugging the Motochimp, and riding it from home to office.]
The inspiration for the Motochimp came from a sketch by a 10-year old Singaporean girl. The fun and carefree spirit that the sketch embodied led the team to develop the design further.
Today, the design is protected in several markets, and the Motochimp is on sale in overseas markets.
Another example is the UB+ Eupho E360 Speaker, developed by local company TGI Technology.
What strikes you are the spherical shape and bright colours, which are not usual for speakers.
Besides looking good, the team found that the sphere is the most ideal shape for the design of a speaker enclosure, as it reduces the amount of ripples in the frequency response.
The technology is protected by an international patent application filed through WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty.
Singapore businesses are harnessing the transformative powers of design, and we should encourage them to continue to do so.
1. A robust design protection regime is necessary for creative and design activities to flourish.
For creative and design activities to continue to flourish in Singapore, IP protection is crucial.
IP protection allows businesses to preserve their competitive edge, and maximise the returns from their creative activity.
Without adequate protection, a novel design can be easily copied.
And a business’ investment in the design is quickly lost
To better support the design sector in Singapore, the Ministry of Law and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (“IPOS”) recently reviewed our design protection regime.
1. We consulted widely – from IP practitioners to designers, design-centric business, and industry associations.
2. We also learnt from the experiences and best practices of overseas counterparts.
3. The review culminated in the Registered Designs (Amendment) Bill 2017, which was passed in Parliament on 8 May this year.
Let me talk briefly about some of the key amendments that the Bill introduced.
Firstly, the scope of design protection will be broadened.
1. We will allow the protection of colours as a design feature. This will benefit businesses who wish to create a strong association between a particular colour scheme and their products.
2. We will allow the protection of “virtual designs”, or designs applied to non-physical products.
  1. Take for example light-projected keyboards and holographic chess pieces.
  2. Going forward, designs of such products can be protected.
  3. We are taking such a radical step because we expect non-physical products to become more prevalent in the future.
  4. And our design protection laws must be ready for them.
3. We are also clarifying that designs of handmade items can be protected.
  1. With today’s technology, products are not only produced on the factory floor.
  2. A home-based entrepreneur could be designing, making and selling handcrafted items like jewellery and other accessories through an online blog shop.
  3. We want to recognise that such designs are also deserving of protection.
Secondly, we are switching the default ownership position in situations where a design is created under commission.
1. Currently, the ownership of such designs resides with the commissioning party, unless there is an agreement otherwise.
2. We are changing the law so that the designer is treated as the owner by default, but still allowing this to be varied by agreement.
3. We are doing this because we recognise the value of designs, and the important contribution that designers make to the economy and society.
Thirdly, we are broadening and lengthening the grace period provision.
1. This will allow designers and businesses greater flexibility in deciding when, and how, to disclose their designs,
2. without losing the ability to register their designs for protection.
3. They could, for example, be trying to source for investors or showcasing their designs at a trade show.
4. Sometimes, due to time pressure, they may not able to seek design protection before such public disclosures.
These amendments are part of our efforts to continually enhance our design protection regime.
1. They allow our regime to stay up to date, in light of trends in design, technology and business practices,
2. and also make our design registration system more applicant-friendly.
In this way, we hope to encourage and support designers in Singapore.
We expect the new regime to take effect some time in the fourth quarter of this year.
1. IP protection alone is not sufficient for innovation.
But creating new designs and protecting them is insufficient.
Innovation is fundamentally about bringing ideas to the market.
Thus, what a business does with its IP rights – for example, registered designs, patents and trade marks – is equally, if not more, important.
A well-developed IP protection and commercialisation strategy is needed to support the business strategy. That is the challenge facing businesses today.
Businesses should carefully consider three issues, amongst others – what to protect, where to protect, and how to use.
1. What to protect
  1. What are the essential ideas or features that are key to the success of the business, and therefore need to protected?
  2. What is the appropriate form of protection? Is it patents, registered designs, trade marks, or copyright? Or should it be kept confidential as trade secrets?
2. Companies also need to decide where they should protect their IP.
  1. Where are the key export markets?
  2. Where are the key manufacturing and R&D locations?
3. Lastly, companies should decide how to use and commercialise the IP.
  1. What is the business model for reaching markets?
  2. For example, are you directly manufacturing the product? Do you need distributors? Or are you going to license your technology to someone else to manufacture the product?
  3. Do you have the resources to enforce your IP rights, if necessary, especially in overseas markets?
  4. Have you considered the need for IP insurance to protect your business against the risk of high enforcement costs?
Furthermore, Singapore businesses often have to look abroad, to ASEAN and beyond, as the Singapore market is small.
This requires familiarity of the IP regimes of other jurisdictions. IP practitioners can value add by advising clients on an effective IP strategy to support businesses as they internationalise.
For example, designers can make use of the WIPO Hague system for international design registration that I referred to earlier.
This allows the simultaneous protection of designs in multiple jurisdictions under one international registration, which significantly reduces the administrative burden.
Let me end with an example of how the IP lifecycle plays a critical role in a business’ growth strategy.

Innosparks Air+ Smart Mask
Some of us wear face masks when the air quality is poor, for example, during times of haze.
Innosparks, an ST Engineering Open Lab, looked at the face masks on sale in Singapore, and noticed that there are several problems.
Firstly, they can get uncomfortable as heat and humidity builds up within the mask.
Secondly, these masks usually come in one size only, which would not work, for example, for someone with a smaller face.
Innosparks set out to challenge the status quo and sought to create the next generation of respirators.
It developed a Smart Mask with a valve, and a Micro Ventilator that can be attached to the mask via the valve. The Micro Ventilator draws out built-up carbon dioxide, heat and moisture from within the mask. This makes it much more comfortable for the wearer.
The Smart Mask also comes in different sizes. More interestingly, there is a sizing ruler on the side of the packaging. This can be used to help you quickly decide which size fits you best.
Innosparks obtained IP protection for various aspects of its innovative product.
1. The innovative components, such as the valve, ventilator and sizing ruler, were patented.
2. The unique designs of the valve and ventilator were registered as designs.
3. The name “Air+ Smart Mask” was trade marked.
With IP protection, Innosparks can preserve its competitive edge as it can prevent others from copying its product or riding on its branding.
But Innosparks went further. It used its portfolio of IP rights to grow and internationalise.
Innosparks first sold its products in Singapore.
It did well, but it had to look beyond.
Innosparks then entered into a licensing agreement with global consumer health company RB-Dettol to manufacture, market, and distribute the masks in China.
Today, it is sold in major Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou through 9,000 retail stores.
1. Conclusion
We are gathered here because we believe in the importance of design as a means of creating value for our economy and society.
As technology and the global economy continue to evolve, we have to always ask ourselves how our legislative regime needs to adapt, to support the next phase of economic activity and support businesses to capture new opportunities. In short, we ourselves have to continually innovate.
I believe that is a key theme of this Conference.
I would like to take this chance to mention and thank the UK Government, DesignSingapore Council, and SG Innovate, for supporting this event.
And I wish everyone a fruitful and insightful Conference.
Thank you.

Last updated on 22 Sep 2017