Singapore: IPOS signs MoU to help innovative companies compete globally

September 28 2017

In August, the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Deloitte Southeast Asia Financial Advisory Services to help drive the growth of innovative enterprises and enhance Singapore's position as an IP and innovation hub.

The MoU will leverage IPOS' technical expertise in IP and Deloitte's global business network and expertise in financial and IP advisory services, to support biomedical and healthcare enterprises, manufacturing and engineering organisations, and deep tech sectors, to develop and expand into local and international markets with the right innovation IP growth strategies.

The partnership reflects IPOS's efforts as an innovation agency to build a globally relevant innovation ecosystem, strengthen the global competitiveness of innovative enterprises, and help such enterprises to take their products and services to international markets.

Daren Tang, chief executive of IPOS, said: "The enterprises of today are increasingly built around IP and other intangible assets like know-how, data and digital platforms. As Asian economies develop, we are seeing more and more companies where a significant share of their enterprise value is in their intangible assets, including IP. To drive enterprise growth through innovation, Singapore must shift its focus on enabling innovative companies to commercialise their IP, scale up and internationalise quickly. This partnership with Deloitte will help Singapore enrich its innovation ecosystem with the right skills and global networks to help enterprises anchor their ideas in Singapore, monetise their IP and intangible assets, and springboard to the world."

Through the MOU, IPOS and Deloitte will look to build a strong base of innovation-driven enterprises and groom them to become future global market leaders. The goal is for innovative enterprises from around the world to be able to establish their operations in Singapore, to access globally relevant IP services and networks in Singapore and to use Singapore as a gateway to high-growth markets in Asia and beyond.

This announcement follows IPOS's earlier initiatives to help enterprises commercialise IP, including the launch of a 1 billion dollar innovation fund with private equity firm Makara Capital in April this year. As further recognition of Singapore's focus on innovation, the Global Innovation Index, produced annually by WIPO, the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business and the French business school INSEAD, ranked Singapore seventh in the world and first in Asia. The Global Innovation Index looks at 81 indicators, including political environment, education, infrastructure and business sophistication and provides detailed metrics on the innovation performance of 127 countries and economies worldwide.

At the release of the Global Innovation Index in June 2017, WIPO Director General Francis Gurry said: "Innovation is the engine of economic growth in an increasingly knowledge-based global economy, but more investment is needed to help boost human creativity and economic output … Innovation can help transform the current economic upswing into longer-term growth."

This recognition confirms that Singapore's IP regime continues to be one of the best globally. The strong support of the government, together with initiatives from IPOS, such as the MoU with Deloitte, will enable the continued development and transformation of Singapore into an innovation-driven, globally competitive IP ecosystem.