Intellectual Property in Research

Organised by the SMU Office of Research (ORe), together with the IP Academy of Singapore and the SMU Office of Legal and General Affairs (OLGA), the workshop was held over two afternoons on 19 and 20 May 2016. Mr. Daniel Collopy, Special Counsel at the Singapore firm of Spruson and Ferguson (Asia), conducted the workshop.

Participants found the topics on patent and copyright useful – in particular the concepts on entitlement to invention; criteria for patentability, as well as the drafting of inventive disclosure. Mr. Collopy regaled participants with his account of personal experiences in the field, and the many interesting case studies shared have also helped the audience better relate the application of IP law to real-life situations.

As a wrap-up to the workshop, the Office of Legal Affairs (OLGA) shared about SMU’s IP Policy, and participants found that they were able to build on what they have learned over the past two days, to appreciate the provisions of the IP policy at SMU.

Topics covered during the workshop

• What is IP?
• Patents and Patentability
• Copyright
• The Overlap between Copyright Protection and Patent Protection
• Identifying IP
• Patent Filing and Maintenance Process
• Trade Secret, Non-Disclosure Agreements and Case Study
• Types of IP Ownership and Their Implications
• Types of Licenses and Their Limitations
• IP Issues in Research Collaboration
• SMU’s IP Policy