Until now a national phase entry application in Singapore under PCT Chapter I had to be filed within 20 months from the priority date (or international filing date if priority is not claimed).
As of 1 January 2004, Singapore no longer has a deadline of 20 months for entering the national phase under PCT Chapter I. On 1 January 2004, Singapore joined most other PCT countries in having a PCT Chapter I national phase deadline of 30 months.
However, the 30 month PCT Chapter I deadline only applies to PCT applications with an earliest priority date (or international filing date if priority is not claimed) of 1 May 2002 or later, i.e. those PCT applications for which the 20 month term had not expired before 1 January 2004. For those cases where the 20 month term had expired before 1 January 2004, the 20 month term still applies.
For those Singapore PCT Chapter I national phase applications for which the national phase entry deadline is still 20 months and any case which entered the national phase in Singapore under PCT Chapter I before 1 January 2004, the term for requesting examination remains at 28 months from the priority date (or international filing date if priority is not claimed).
For those Singapore PCT Chapter I national phase applications for which a national phase entry deadline is now 30 months (and which had not entered the national phase before 1 January 2004) the term for requesting examination expires at 32 months from the priority date (or international filing date if priority is not claimed).
The change from 20 months to 30 months for entering the national phase via Chapter I in Singapore means that applicants can now have a longer time to decide if they wish to nationalise the application in Singapore by this route, after the deadline for filing a demand has lapsed.
The content of this article does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied on