IPOS International (IPOS-I), the international division of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), and Russian venture capital fund and accelerator Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF) recently inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU), witnessed by Singapore Senior Minister of State for Trade & Industry, Dr Koh Poh Koon, and Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Maxim Akimov, for Singapore to become an “IP hub” for innovative Russian enterprises.
The MOU allows Singapore to serve as an important launch pad for Russian enterprises to scale up and gain greater access to high growth market opportunities in Asia Russian enterprises will benefit from Singapore’s IP management consultancy services, patent search and analytics, customised training programmes and workshops. Russian innovators can now also take advantage of established platforms such as ASEAN Patent Examination Co-operation (ASPEC) for expedited patent application examination and connect with over 70 markets through Singapore’s IP network and trade agreements. In addition, the MOU provides Singapore enterprises with knowledge of and access to the Russian innovation ecosystem.
“IPOS is pleased to partner with IIDF, one of the key players in the Russia innovation ecosystem, to create stronger linkages between the innovation ecosystems of both countries, said Daren Tang, Chairman of IPOS-I. Russian enterprises will find Singapore to be an ideal location to anchor and leverage on their IP and intangible assets to access Asia’s growth markets. We are also pleased that IIDF will help local innovators understand and connect with the Russian innovation ecosystem.”
Kirill Varlamov, Director of IIDF, said: “Being an active player in the entrepreneurship ecosystem of the Russian Federation, IIDF sees a new challenge for companies in their aspirations of global growth. The MOU with IPOS is an important step for IIDF to build long term collaboration with the Singapore innovation ecosystem, of which IPOS is a key part. The synergetic effect of this collaboration highlights the benefits of Singapore as an IP gateway to global markets for the entire society of start-ups and small medium businesses of Russia that have their core competencies in deep technologies.”