Singapore IP Survey 2023

The biennial Singapore IP Survey was conducted to better understand companies’ perception and usage of intangible assets and intellectual property (IA/IP).

The 2023 Singapore IP Survey was conducted from February to March 2023, with over 500 responses by companies from various sectors.

Key findings

*Correction issued on 27 Dec 2023: The datapoint “59% of companies are willing to pay a wage premium for employees with IP skills” was corrected from ”90% of companies are willing to give a wage premium of 26% or more for employees with IP skills”.

Business

1. Companies value IP

• (a) Most important IP types
  Around one in three companies indicated that the following are important areas for them:

  • strong brand;

  • new technology and or process; and

  • confidential information.

• (b) Business value of IP
  15% of companies perceive that the bulk of their value resides in IA/IP.

• (c) How companies are using their IA/IP
  Recognising the importance of IA/IP, companies felt that IA/IP helped enhance their company performance in the following areas:

  • Provide new opportunities for collaboration with other businesses

  • Increase business competitiveness

  • Facilitate market expansion or internationalisation

  • Increase revenue

2. Support & resources for companies

While companies recognise the importance of IA/IP, there is a need to raise awareness of IP-related services and build IP knowledge.

4 out of 5 companies would like more opportunities to use IA/IP to obtain financing.

92% of companies did not make use of any form of government subsidies or grants for their IP activities, with more than half citing a lack of awareness as the key factor.

For those who were granted government subsidies, half were obtained from the Enterprise Development Grant (EDG), and the others acquired the Market Readiness Assistance (MRA) Grant.

Jobs

1. Employees with IP skills are valued

Around 1 in 2 companies consider IP skills as a competitive edge when hiring employees, and 59% of companies are willing to give a wage premium for employees with IP skills.

These are the top three job functions which require IP skills:

2. Valuation

15% of companies in Singapore undertook standalone valuation, of which less than half were conducted by Chartered Valuer and Appraiser (CVA) holders.

IP Hub

1. Global IA/IP hub

1 in 3 companies seek to expand into/have a presence in other ASEAN countries. However, more than 60% of companies face significant IP-related challenges.

The top 3 IP-related challenges companies face when seeking to expand into/have a presence in other ASEAN countries are:

2. Singapore as an IP Dispute Resolution (IPDR) Hub

1 in 5 companies choose Singapore as a preferred venue for IP dispute resolution.

• (a) Top factors for choice of IP dispute resolution location
  Governing law of contract or agreement is important for more than 50% of companies when deciding where to resolve the company IP dispute. This is followed by ease of enforcement (36%) and the speed of dispute resolution process in the jurisdiction (36%).

IA account for more than 90% of business value (Ocean Tomo, Intangible Asset Market Value study, 2020). Drive business growth by managing your IA/IP with us!

You may also wish to see the findings from the Singapore IP Survey 2021.