Great Response to Webinar on the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks

May 27, 2021

A webinar on the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks (STLT) generated a great deal of interest in the Asia-Pacific region with over 100 participants from 14 countries joining the activity.

Jointly organized by the WIPO Singapore Office and the WIPO Department for Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications, the webinar provided an overview of how the treaty works, the potential benefits it can bring to IP offices and applicants, and the assistance WIPO can provide member states on their accession journey.

The Singapore Treaty contributes to a modern and dynamic international framework for the harmonization of administrative trademark registration procedures. Building on the Trademark Law Treaty of 1994, the Singapore Treaty has a wider scope of application and addresses more recent developments in the field of communication technologies.

A highlight of the webinar were the presentations from the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore and IP Australia. These two member states are both contracting parties of the STLT and they shared some of the motivating factors behind their country’s accession and some of the challenges they had to face on their accession journey.

This webinar was the first in a series of four that highlight the usefulness of WIPO administered treaties such as the Patent Law Treaty, the Budapest Treaty and the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement. The end objective of the series is to assist member states who are interested joining these treaties to gain a deeper understanding of how the treaties operate, the benefits accession will bring and how WIPO can help them in the accession process.