1. ASEAN PATENT EXAMINATION CO-OPERATION (ASPEC) -
INTRODUCTION & LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
SANDRA LYNN MERINDA
Senior Assistant Director, Registry of Patents
Intellectual Property Office of Singapore
14 December 2011
Bangkok, Thailand

2. What is ASPEC?
ASPEC is a work-sharing initiative among ASEAN IP Offices in the area of patent work.
Launched on 15 June 2009.
8 participating ASEAN countries:-
Cambodia
Indonesia
Lao PDR
Malaysia
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Viet Nam

3. Objectives of ASPEC

4. Key Features of ASPEC
Patent applicant in one ASEAN Member Country (AMS) is allowed to submit the first available search & examination (S&E) documents in any participating AMS.
The AMS receiving such S&E documents will take that document into consideration as a reference source in its S&E work.
No obligation to accept the results from another jurisdiction.
No changes to legislation is required.

5. Another Paris Convention member
ASPEC Eligibility
AMS = ASEAN MEMBER STATES
Claim priority
ASEAN MEMBER STATE
ASEAN MEMBER STATE
“first IP Office”
“second IP Office”
Another Paris Convention member
Claim priority
Claim priority
ASEAN MEMBER STATE
ASEAN MEMBER STATE
“first IP Office”
“second IP Office”

6. Corresponding Application
What is a corresponding patent application ?
Scenarios of corresponding patent applications for the purposes of ASPEC, if the ASPEC Request Form is filed with IPOS:
SCENARIO 1
ASPEC request is filed in SG and SG examiners may refer to the S&E results of the MY application
S&E results SG MY
(corresponding application)
(claiming priority)
SCENARIO 2 AU
ASPEC request is filed in SG and SG examiners may refer to the SE results of the PH application
(claiming priority)
(claiming priority) SG
S&E results PH
(corresponding application)

7. ASPEC requirements in SG: In a nutshell
ELIGIBILITY FOR ASPEC REFERENCE
ASPEC request is filed by any SG patent applicant in SG
The SG patent applicant claims priority from an application filed with an ASPEC member or shares the same priority as the ASPEC member
The search and examination (S&E) results established by the ASPEC member are available and referred to in the ASPEC request

8. ASPEC requirements in SG: In a nutshell
ASPEC REQUEST FILED
Minimum Documents: (In English or English translations)
Search report + Examination report
Patent Claims referred to in the Minimum Documents (In English or English translations)
Cited Documents & their translations need not be filed at the time the ASPEC request is made but IPOS may ask for them later
If required

9. Developments in ASPEC
ASEAN Technical Meeting on ASPEC Implementation was held in Philippines in April 2010.
AWGIPC in 2010 approved the ASPEC Task Force Terms of Reference.
Task Force was thereafter created and a meeting was convened in Philippines in May 2011 to discuss, among others,:
Procedures & Operations of ASPEC
Challenges & Possible Solutions
Way Forward
The ASPEC Rules of Procedures were revised and adopted at the recent Special AWGIPC Meeting in Nov 2011.

10. Revised ASPEC Concepts
Step 1: APPLICANT SUBMITS :
ASPEC Request Form
Search & Exam Report from AMS “first IP Office”
Copy of claims referred to in (b)
filed in
Step 3 (ii): AMS “second IP Office” arranges to accept translation of reports into English directly from the AMS “first IP Office”
AMS “second IP Office” No
Applicant approaches AMS “first IP Office” for translation (and verification) to English
Step 2: Are AMS “first IP Office” reports in English? No
Step 3 (i): Applicant arranges for translation (and verification) of reports into English according to requirements of AMS “second IP Office”
Yes
Applicant bears the cost of translation (and verification) to English
Step 4: Are ASPEC documents complete? No
Applicant informed to file complete set of documents
All documents submitted are to be in English, and if not originally in English, may need to be accompanied by an English translation. The English translation of any document may need to be verified according to the requirements of the AMS “second IP Office”.
Yes
AMS “first IP Office”
Can Refer
Step 5: Patent Examiners in AMS “second IP Office”
Not Bound by reference
Search & Exam Reports
Step 6: Patent Examiners Complete ASPEC Survey Form

11. THANK YOU