technology 19
Where to protect your technologies? Don’t overlook South East Asia
Intellectual property (IP) firm Marks & Clerk is pleased to confirm its support for the Southern Tech 100 for a second term. With a number of UK technology companies based in the Thames Valley and Solent regions, Tim Watkin, a patent attorney who has just returned from 13 years in the firm’s Singapore office to the Oxford office, reviews how to decide which countries are worth IP investment, taking as an example those in South East Asia
For most exporting companies, IP protection is essential. Your trademarks are how your customers recognise you. If you bring a new product to the marketplace, only IP rights stop your competitors producing rip-off copies, stealing your investment in product development, and confusing your client base. The expense of entering a new overseas market may be wasted if a local competitor, with superior local knowledge and contacts, steals the product features which set you apart.
Some IP protection is free (every document you write is covered by copyright, for example), but most IP has to be registered, and normally this requires a separate registration in every country where you want protection. It admittedly comes at a price; there are fees charged by national IP offices, and local attorneys to draft and file an application on your behalf. In return, IP rights in major countries are clear, strong and enforceable. If your product has a novel appearance, registered design protection prevents your competitors from selling products which look similar. Better still, patents protect the new technical concepts your products are based on, so they can cover competitors’ products however they look. A patent for a fundamental idea can protect many generations of your products, if all of them use the same idea.
So, where should you seek IP protection? The best choice is different for every company. Of course, your home market is critical, but you should also look at markets you intend to invest in, not forgetting countries where your competitors manufacture or market their products. After all, another major reason to protect IP rights is to give you a sword to fight back with if your competitors attack you with their own IP rights. There are strict time limits for getting patents, so if you simply wait until you need them, you may be too late.
Another factor in choosing where to register IP is the cost and enforceability in different countries. This country-on-country variation is particularly evident in South East Asia
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – NOVEMBER 2015
(SEA). In the region, there is everything from Singapore (the size of New York, with the GDP of Minnesota) to sprawling resource-rich Indonesia (by some measures the world’s 8th largest economy) to rural Laos.
In Singapore, which aspires to be the hub of SEA’s patent system, IP rights are well- respected. The IP system is in English, and the cost of getting a patent is a fraction of the cost in larger economies. In July, David Cameron announced measures to improve cooperation between the UK and Singapore IP offices, which has resulted in a new Memorandum of Understanding. If litigation becomes necessary, patent holders know where they stand; the courts are expert, well-priced, and unbiased (but generally pro-IP). There is no risk of the comparably high costs and complexity of US patent litigation (or even the UK’s). Unlike China, enforcing court judgements is straightforward. True, the Singapore economy is fairly small, but Singapore is dominant in a few industries, and since it is the world’s second busiest port (after Shanghai), a patent there can have a wide geographical effect.
Malaysia (another country where patents can be obtained in English) and Thailand lie just behind Singapore in SEA's IP league tables. Both have made strides in recent years, when their governments realised that strong IP laws are key to attracting foreign investment. Both even have specialist IP courts (which many European nations have not). Vietnam is starting on the same path.
By contrast, in Indonesia enforcement of IP rights is problematic. An IP right there is just a business tool, not an overwhelming legal right. Until recently Laos hardly had an IP system. In recent years though, the SEA countries have banded together as ASEAN – a community of nations modelled on the EU – and the more IP-aware ASEAN countries are raising standards. For example, a system (ASPEC) has been put in place to make IP rights granted in one country the basis of cheaper IP rights in others.
By 2030, ASEAN is expected to be the world’s fourth largest single market, and Singapore and Brunei are already among the richest countries per capita in the world. Malaysia has a GDP per capita on a par with Eastern European nations, and since this has been achieved while many of its regions remain poorly developed, there is every chance that prosperity will spread across the country. These countries are huge potential markets for British companies, and IP is a key to enter them.
For further information contact Tim Watkin, who has 22 years’ experience helping clients identify inventions and converting them into valuable and revenue-yielding patents. He will be presenting at the next Oxfordshire International Business Club (OIBC) event, Exciting Business Opportunities in South East Asia, at Oxford Science Park on November 26, 4-7.45pm. To find out more visit
www.oibc.biz or
www.marks-clerk.com
Details: Tim Watkin 01865-397900
twatkin@marks-clerk.com www.marks-clerk.com @marksandclerk
www.businessmag.co.uk
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