Singapore to Grow 100 Innovative Enterprises to Compete Globally Through IP Commercialization

IPOS partners Deloitte to expand Singapore’s IP commercialisation and financial advisory capabilities, strengthen global networks for enterprises to scale up and internationalise .

Singapore, 29 August 2017 – Enterprises in the biomedical and healthcare, manufacturing and engineering, and deep tech sectors can soon look forward to receiving a boost to grow and scale up, and expand into overseas markets with the right innovation and intellectual property (IP) growth strategies.  

The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) and Deloitte Southeast Asia Financial Advisory Services (Deloitte) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today to deepen cooperation to drive the growth of innovative enterprises, and enhance Singapore’s position as an IP and innovation hub. The MoU, which brings together IPOS’ deep technical expertise in IP and Deloitte’ global business network and expertise in IP and financial advisory services, was signed by Mr Daren Tang, Chief Executive of IPOS, and Mr Keoy Soo Earn, Executive Director and Regional Managing Partner of Deloitte Southeast Asia’s Financial Advisory practice. The signing took place at Singapore’s premier international IP event – IP Week @ SG 2017.  

The partnership reflects IPOS’ ongoing efforts as an innovation agency to build a vibrant and globally-connected innovation ecosystem, strengthen innovative enterprises’ competitiveness through using IP as a strategic business asset, and help them take their products and services to international markets, in line with the key recommendations highlighted in the Committee on the Future Economy (CFE) Report.  

IPOS and Deloitte will target to build a strong base of 100 growth enterprises that are innovation-driven, and groom them to become future global market leaders. At the enterprise level, IPOS and Deloitte will help companies to: 

l  Understand technology trends to make strategic decisions for investment, and research and development (R&D);

l  Connect to emerging and disruptive technologies in the fast-growing markets and start-up communities;

l  Bring their products and services to the market by using the IP and other intangible assets to compete and scale globally, and

l  providing access to an in-market network of business partners and financial investors; and Commercialise their IP and other intangible assets for business growth. 

At the ecosystem level, the partnership represents another one of the many connections Singapore is building for innovative enterprises from anywhere in the world to establish their operations here, access IP services and networks, and use Singapore as a gateway to high-growth markets in Asia and beyond. Supported by a world-class IP regime, the innovation ecosystem will encourage innovation-led companies to gain a strong foothold in Singapore to monetise their ideas and IP through easy access to market opportunities, technology and commercialisation expertise, strategic advisory and services and global connections.  

 "Intellectual asset management is an essential component for businesses to remain relevant in this digital era. Through this partnership with IPOS, we are committed to help more innovative, IP centric enterprises achieve their next phase of growth and establish a stronger foothold in the global markets by leveraging on their intellectual assets. Enterprises will be able to tap on our global networks and professional expertise to gain a deeper access into technology, market and growth capital. We also hope to build a conducive and progressive environment that will encourage more of such foreign enterprises to establish their operations in Singapore and develop Singapore as a gateway to the global markets,” said Mr Keoy Soo Earn, Executive Director and Regional Managing Partner of Deloitte Southeast Asia’s Financial Advisory practice. 

Mr Daren Tang, Chief Executive of IPOS, said, “The enterprises of today are increasing 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 and innovation in Singapore, monetise their IP and intangible assets, and springboard to the world.” 

At the opening ceremony of IP Week @ SG 2017, six local innovative enterprises were honoured with the prestigious WIPO-IPOS IP Awards. Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Law and Home Affairs, alongside Mr Yoshiyuki Takagi, Assistant Director-General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and Dr Stanley Lai, Chairman of IPOS, presented the awards to the recipients. Into its fifth year, the awards recognise the outstanding achievements of our local enterprises that have successfully grown their businesses through the effective use of IP as well as the strategic management of the technologies, brands and content that they create and own. The winners have demonstrated the importance of adopting innovation and IP to distinguish themselves from their competition. An overview of the awards, judges and the winning companies are in Annex A.  

Mr Luke Lim, Group Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Louken Group, and one of the panel’s esteemed judges, said, “IP strategy management forms a key ingredient for branding success which involves creating, managing and exploiting IP to gain competitive advantage for the brand. We are very delighted to see a surge in the quality of the entries on how IP is used in their deployment of their brand strategy. This affirms the growth in the adoption of IP as an important strategy amongst our SMEs in Singapore.” 

Source: IPOS

Editor: Camila