IPOS: Enhanced PPH Offerings
The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) announced on 12 September 2025, through Circular No. 4/2025, a series of enhancements to its Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) programmes.
Pilot Initiative – Fee Savings for Using the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) programme
As part of this initiative, IPOS has introduced a pilot scheme offering applicants the opportunity to obtain refunds of official fees paid for search and/or examination reports, i.e., PF11 and PF12 (collectively “S&E requests”). Under the scheme, applicants may request that the PPH programme be applied to their S&E requests, in which case the corresponding official fees for the S&E requests will be refunded.
This pilot initiative will apply to PPH requests filed between 15 September 2025 – 31 December 2027 (both dates inclusive). The refund amounts are set out below:
- Examination report only: SGD 426
- Combined Search and Examination report (ISR1 / IPRP2 established by the IPOS): SGD 315
- Combined Search and Examination report (ISR1 / IPRP2 not established by the IPOS): SGD 615
Applicants may participate in this initiative: (i) at the time of filing a request for search and/or examination report; or (ii) after the request for search and/or examination report has been filed and before the search/ examination has started. Please note that standard PPH participation requirements and procedures will have to be met.
This initiative is noteworthy as it offers applicants both cost savings and expedited prosecution by leveraging foreign-allowed claims. Applicants are therefore encouraged to consider utilising the PPH programme in Singapore to take advantage of these benefits.
IPOS-SAIP PPH programme– Extended and Enhanced
From 12 September 2025, the bilateral PPH programme between the IPOS and the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) will be extended indefinitely. In addition, the programme has been enhanced to remove the requirement that the earliest application must be filed with either the IPOS or SAIP.
These changes provide greater accessibility and flexibility for applicants seeking patent protection in both Singapore and Saudi Arabia.
Reference materials
Details of the IPOS’s enhancements to the PPH programmes may be found at the following link:
________________________________________________________________ 1 International Search Report 2 International Preliminary Report on Patentability
