PATENTS BILL (As reported from Select Committee)

Order for Third Reading read.

The Minister for Law (Prof. S. Jayakumar): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Third time."

Sir, the Select Committee on this Bill received eight written representations from concerned private individuals as well as public organisations and the Law Society. Four representors presented oral evidence. The process was beneficial as it threw up several useful suggestions, most of which have been accepted.

The Report of the Select Committee was presented to this House on 22nd August 1994. The Bill is set out in Appendix I of the Report and also incorporates the amendments made by the Select Committee. The reasons for the amendments are set out in Appendix V of the Report.

Let me say that most of the changes are quite technical in nature.

From the proceedings of the Select Committee, it is clear that the Bill was generally welcomed by entrepreneurs, investors and those engaged in R&D and product development in Singapore. However, they wanted to clarify the ambit and content of certain provisions to make clear its scope and intended effect. Most of the issues dealt with concerned technical and procedural matters relating to the application process leading to the grant of a patent. Other representations dealt with some issues of policy which fell outside the terms of reference of the Select Committee.

The Committee's approach was to maintain a balanced patent protection scheme. In other words, to provide adequate protection and returns to patentable inventions and, at the same time, give due recognition to consumer and industry interests in having wider access to inventive products and services.

The Select Committee took into account the fast-changing technology and the need for a patents regime which is responsive to technological change. Outdated legislation, of course, impedes economic growth. This is especially so as our economy is becoming increasingly service-oriented, where the creation, transmission and processing of information, especially in the field of R&D and product development, is assuming greater importance. Modern patents legislation would also attract investments, particularly in the field of industrial science and technology.

I believe, Sir, that the Bill, as amended and improved by the Select Committee, will meet our objective of promoting Singapore as a regional and international centre for research and development.

I do not intend to deal with the details of provisions recommended by the Select Committee, as they are well set out in the Report.

Sir, several representors made suggestions relating to the recently-concluded Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement, which will become effective in the year 2000. Although we have not accepted these proposals for the time being, as I explained and as set out in the Report, this does not mean that their views have no merit. The Select Committee felt that the TRIPS Agreement had impact, not just on Patents legislation, but in other areas as well. To review this Patents Bill for compliance with TRIPS at this stage may be premature. Therefore, the Committee felt that it was better to review them later. Like other countries, Singapore intends to abide by the provisions of TRIPS. But we must understand that the TRIPS Agreement is quite an enormous undertaking involving not only patents but other areas like copyrights, trade marks, designs, integrated circuits and so on. Therefore, we will examine TRIPS to see how it impacts all these other various laws in Singapore. As TRIPS will come into force for Singapore some five years after ratification, we are really talking about the year 2000. In the interim, we intend to review our legislation on all the areas that I have mentioned as well as to learn from other countries their experiences in implementing TRIPS into their national legislation. For the time being, we feel that we should proceed with this legislation on patents which, if I may add, has been long awaited by the industry and should not be delayed further.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Third time and passed.

Mr Speaker: Order. I suspend the Sitting and will take the Chair again at 3.00 pm.

Sitting accordingly suspended at 2.26 pm until 3.00 pm. Sitting resumed at 3.00 pm