Basic Watch
Free for every mark we file for you, for three months from its registration date
- Matches
- Exact term
- Classes
- Coordinated classes
- Reports
- Monthly
- Review
- None (report only)
Services
Trade mark watch
Registration protects your mark, but IPOS does not tell you when someone files a similar one. We read every Trade Marks Journal against your marks and tell you, with the opposition deadline already worked out.
Why watch
Every accepted application is published in the IPOS Trade Marks Journal, and you have only two months from publication to oppose it; miss that window and the cheap route closes. Our watch service, built into the JK Marcam work platform, checks each journal issue against your marks and sends you a plain-English report with the applicant, classes, goods and the exact opposition deadline. Every mark we file includes three months of Basic Watch at no charge from the date it is registered, and continuing is your choice.
Four tiers, per mark per year
All tiers watch the Singapore register for word marks and the distinctive or prominent word element of logos, in your mark’s own classes plus IPOS’s coordinated classes, unless stated otherwise.
Essential Watch
S$150 per mark per year
- Matches
- Exact and phonetically similar terms
- Classes
- Coordinated classes
- Reports
- Twice a month
- Review
- None (report only)
Guardian Watch
S$250 per mark per year
- Matches
- Similar and phonetically similar terms
- Classes
- Coordinated classes
- Reports
- Twice a month
- Review
- Our consultant’s note on each hit
Full Watch
S$350 per mark per year
- Matches
- Similar and phonetically similar terms
- Classes
- All 45 classes
- Reports
- Twice a month
- Review
- Our consultant’s note on each hit
Prices are per mark per year, in Singapore dollars, for the Singapore register. The free Basic Watch is for clients who instruct us directly. Law firms and agents instructing us for their clients are offered our watch fee schedule on request.
What is matched
- Exact term: the same word or words as your mark.
- Phonetically similar: marks that sound like yours when spoken, even when spelt differently.
- Similar: marks that look or read like yours: shared prefixes, small spelling changes, added or dropped words.
All tiers watch word marks and the distinctive or prominent word element of composite marks (logos with words). Purely figurative marks, logos without words, are outside the service.
Coordinated classes
A filing in a class next to yours can conflict just as much as one in the same class. “Coordinated classes” means your mark’s own classes plus the classes IPOS treats as related to them, so a watch on a class 30 food mark also covers, for example, related cafe and restaurant services. Full Watch covers all 45 classes.
What you receive
A report for each check, listing every hit with the applicant, the mark, the classes and goods, the journal date and the opposition deadline. On Guardian and Full Watch, a short note from our consultant on each hit: how close it is and what we suggest. When a report is clear, it says so; there is no note to read.
A written opinion, a letter to the applicant or an opposition is quoted separately before any work starts.
Watch service FAQs
How quickly will I hear about a conflicting application?
We check each Trade Marks Journal as it is published and report to you the same week, so you keep most of the two-month opposition window. Essential, Guardian and Full Watch are checked twice a month; Basic Watch monthly.
Does the fee include advice on what to do about a hit?
Basic and Essential Watch list the hit and the deadline. Guardian and Full Watch include a short note from our consultant on each hit: how close it is and the options. A full written opinion, a letter to the applicant or an opposition is quoted separately before any work starts.
Will the free Basic Watch convert to a paid one automatically?
No. Near the end of the three months we send one reminder; the watch continues only if you confirm, at the tier you choose. Nothing is charged without your written go-ahead, and a paid watch renews each year only on your confirmation.
When does the free period start?
On the date your mark is registered, not the date it is filed. While an application is pending there is nothing to watch against yet, and we do not sell a watch for a mark that has not registered.
My mark is a logo. Can it be watched?
Yes, if the logo has a word element: we watch the distinctive or prominent word in it. A logo with no words at all is outside the service, as there is no reliable way to match images in the journal.
Can you watch other countries?
The tiers above cover the Singapore register. For marks registered elsewhere, ask us: we arrange a watch in the countries you need and quote for them.