Singapore High Court has power to revoke patents

Published

Jan 31 2019

Written By

As a partner in our Intellectual Property Group in Singapore and part of the Media, Entertainment & Sports team, I focus on contentious IP matters including IP infringement litigation, patent revocation actions and trade mark oppositions, but also advise clients extensively on non-contentious matters including IP commercialisation, patent and trade mark freedom-to-operate issues and brand protection.

Anan Sivananthan

Partner
Singapore

I am an Intellectual Property litigation partner in Singapore, where my commercial insights into our clients' needs enable me to effectively manage IP litigation matters in Singapore and the ASEAN region.

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In earlier proceedings reported here, the High Court had held - in a decision that came as a surprise to many - that the Singapore Patents Act and other legislation did not provide the High Court with original jurisdiction to hear applications for patent revocation or to order that a patent be revoked.

This meant that all applications for patent revocation must be heard by the Registrar of Patents at the first instance, and the High Court could only hear appeals from the Registrar's decision.

The High Court's decision has now been reversed by the Court of Appeal, which has held that the High Court has the power to hear applications for patent revocation and to revoke patents. However, this is confined to instances where the application was brought by way of defence and…