The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) and eight
other ASEAN IP offices announced at IP Week in Singapore in August
that under a new ASPEC
Acceleration for Industry 4.0
Infrastructure and Manufacturing
(ASPEC-AIM) initiative, the nine ASEAN IP offices will prioritise
patent application prosecution in technologies such as Industry 4.0
manufacturing, FinTech, cyber security and robotics. ASPEC-AIM is a
two-year pilot project launched on August 27 2019 which is intended
to allow businesses and innovators filing for patent protection in
the ASEAN region to enjoy a short turnaround time of six months
from requesting examination to a first office action.
ASPEC (the ASEAN Patent Examination Co-operation programme) is a
regional patent work-sharing programme among the nine participating
ASEAN IP offices in Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos
PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The programme, launched in June 2009, shares
