Singapore legislation
Section 108
Section 108
Information about patent applications and patents, and inspection of documents
(1)
After publication of an application for a patent in accordance with section 27, the Registrar must, on request being made to the Registrar in the prescribed manner and on payment of the prescribed fee (if any), give the person making the request such information, and permit the person to inspect such documents, relating to the application or to any patent granted pursuant to the application as may be specified in the request, subject, however, to any prescribed restriction.
(2)
Subject to this section, until an application for a patent is so published, documents or information constituting or relating to the application must not, without the consent of the applicant, be published or communicated to any person by the Registrar.
(3)
Subsection (2) does not prevent —
the Registrar from publishing or communicating to others any bibliographic information about an unpublished application for a patent; or
the Minister from inspecting or authorising the inspection of an application for a patent or any connected document under section 33(5).
(4)
Where a person is notified that an application for a patent has been made, but not published in accordance with section 27, and that the applicant will, if the patent is granted, bring proceedings against that person in the event of that person doing an act specified in the notification after the application is so published, that person may make a request under subsection (1), even though the application has not been published, and that subsection applies accordingly.
(5)
Where an application for a patent is filed, but not published, and a new application is filed in respect of any part of the subject matter of the earlier application (either in accordance with the rules or in pursuance of an order under section 20) and is published, any person may make a request under subsection (1) relating to the earlier application and on payment of the prescribed fee the Registrar must give the person such information and permit the person to inspect such documents as could have been given or inspected if the earlier application had been published.
(6)
The publication of the whole or part of a specification of a patent or an application for a patent does not constitute an infringement of any copyright subsisting under the Copyright Act 2021 in any literary or artistic work.