There is still time to be heard on AI and intellectual property. Singapore's Ministry of Law (MinLaw) and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) have extended their joint public consultation on AI and Singapore's IP regime: feedback was originally due on 22 October 2026, and the exercise will now close on 5 November 2026.
The consultation opened on 26 August 2026 and spans two tracks — copyright and patents — with three focus areas on copyright and two on patents. Everything is still at the 'seeking views' stage; nothing has been decided.
For businesses and creators, it is a window to put their own practices and concerns into the policy record.
On copyright, three questions sit closest to businesses. First, how safely AI training can rely on the 'computational data analysis' exception already in Singapore's Copyright Act — the consultation asks whether its scope and application are clear enough, and how lawful access and rights-owner safeguards should work. Second, when AI-generated output infringes copyright, how responsibility should be shared among model developers, deploying businesses and end users. Third, where someone uses generative AI as a tool, how much human creative contribution must be kept and evidenced to qualify for copyright.
On patents, two questions go to the threshold for protection. One is how existing inventorship rules should apply across human-AI collaboration — from framing the problem, to selecting among AI outputs, to human modification of AI-generated solutions. The other is whether the large-scale publication of AI-generated technical disclosures will count as prior art, raising the bar for novelty and inventive step and reshaping searches and examination.
How to take part: copyright and patent feedback can be submitted through an official FormSG form or by email to MinLaw, with the deadline now aligned at 5 November 2026. Submissions should include a name and contact details; commercially sensitive material can be marked for confidential treatment, though a request to keep all, or a substantial part, of a submission confidential will not be accepted.
J&C recommends that businesses training AI, deploying models or creating content with generative AI in Singapore use this extension: test how the computational data analysis exception fits your use case, map infringement responsibility and its contractual allocation across developers, deployers and users, and keep evidence of the human creative process in AI-assisted works; where patents matter, watch how AI-generated disclosures may affect novelty searches. If you have practical concerns, file them through the official channels before 5 November 2026.
Source: www.mlaw.gov.sg
