The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) has announced that its Extension of Time (EOT) Pilot for patent search and/or examination requests, which was slated to expired on 31 August 2026, will be extended for a further year.
Extension of the pilot programme
According to an IPOS notification dated 12 August 2026, the EOT pilot programme will be extended by one year. Details of the EOT pilot programme when it was first launched is provided here.
Eligible applicants may continue to obtain an 18-month extension of time for filing requests for search and/or examination reports, without payment of official fees for the extension of time. With the extension of the EOT pilot programme, applications whose prescribed period for filing search and/or examination requests expires between 1 September 2024 and 31 August 2027 (inclusive) are now eligible.
Under Singapore’s patent system, applicants are generally required to file the relevant request for search and/or examination within the prescribed statutory period. Historically, applicants seeking additional time were required to pay official extension fees.
Practical considerations
Applicants should review their Singapore patent portfolios to identify applications with search and/or examination request deadlines falling on or before 31 August 2027.
The pilot may be particularly useful where:
- Corresponding foreign applications remain under examination;
- Patent prosecution highway options are in play;
- Commercialisation decisions are still being assessed;
- Licensing or investment discussions are ongoing; and/or
- Applicants wish to defer prosecution costs while preserving patent rights.
However, applicants should also consider whether delaying search and/or examination could potentially affect enforcement of rights and commercial objectives in Singapore.
Key takeaway
The extension of the EOT Pilot provides applicants with valuable flexibility to coordinate global patent strategies, manage costs, and make better-informed prosecution decisions while maintaining their Singapore patent filings.
