The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore introduced a phased fee revision, with most changes taking effect on 1 September 2025 and the remaining measures applying from 1 April 2026. For patents, excess-claim fees under Forms PF11 and PF12 now begin above 15 claims rather than 20, while the charge has increased from S$40 to S$80 per excess claim. From April 2026, certain excess-claim payments linked to relevant examination requests filed on or after 1 September 2025 are also brought forward to the PF13A response stage. Extension requests across IP procedures are no longer free for the first filing: CM5 fees are set at S$25 for the first request, S$50 for the second and S$75 from the third request onward.
The practical issue is not only a higher official-fee bill, but an earlier one. Applicants that previously postponed claim consolidation until close to grant may now face the cost during examination, when amendments and response strategy are still developing. Singapore filing budgets should therefore be reviewed alongside drafting choices: control claim volume before filing, price the addition of claims during prosecution, and treat extensions as a managed procedural expense rather than a near-costless buffer.
