With Singapore well on its way towards becoming a knowledge economy, intellectual property (IP) will become increasingly important. This is especially true for the nation’s developing biomedical sciences (BMS) industry. With new innovative products emerging, ensuring adequate protection and proper management of the IP in these products will enable their value to be realised and protected. Patents which are a fundamental part of the IP process protect new and non-obvious inventions that have an industrial application. The patentee enjoys a 20-year monopoly over the invention. This rewards the innovators for disclosing the invention to society, while encouraging scientific advancements, as other parties can make use of the invention for further R&D and innovation, through licensing arrangements.
