Introduction
ASPEC+ was launched on 6 April 2026 under the existing ASPEC (ASEAN Patent Examination Cooperation) programme, a regional patent examination work-sharing programme by participating ASEAN Member States (AMS) IP Offices. The 9 participating AMS Offices are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.
The ASPEC+ programme complements the existing ASPEC programme and introduces a more coordinated approach to patent examination so that applicants are able to obtain corresponding patents more quickly and efficiently.
Unlike the regular ASPEC programme which operates sequentially, meaning a second AMS IP Office accelerates examination only after receiving an examination report issued by a first AMS IP Office, the new ASPEC+ programme operates in parallel, with multiple AMS IP Offices collaborating to issue their respective first office actions within committed timelines. Through this approach, the offices share their expertise in the prior art search and patent examination process with the aim of aligning examination results where possible. Each office, however, remains responsible for issuing examination results in accordance with its national laws and practices, without being bound by other offices’ findings.
For a detailed workflow of the ASPEC+ Programme, please refer to the ASPEC website.
Key advantages
- Select preferred AMS IP Offices based on market priorities in ASEAN.
- Receiving a first office action within 10 to 14 months, providing early certainty on the status of multiple ASEAN patent applications.
- Enhanced search and examination results through collaboration and shared expertise between the selected AMS IP Offices.
- Optimisation of prosecution efforts by preparing simultaneous responses for identical or similar examination results from the selected AMS IP Offices.
- Increasingly more consistent examination standards across ASEAN, reducing complexity for businesses expanding into ASEAN markets.
The ASPEC+ programme is currently free of charge, although standard search and examination fees at the selected AMS IP offices still apply. The regular ASPEC programme remains available for use.
Requirements
To participate in the ASPEC+ programme, applicants must submit an ASPEC+ request complying with at least the following requirements:
- The ASPEC+ request must be filed at the same time at the selected AMS IP Offices via their email addresses.
- The ASPEC+ request is made for applications with either a new or pending examination request, provided that no office action or report has been issued for pending examination requests.
- The ASPEC+ request must be for corresponding applications that claim priority to each other, share a priority claim, or are national phase entries of the same PCT application.
- The corresponding applications must have identical or sufficiently corresponding claim sets. A claim correspondence table is required to be submitted with the ASPEC+ request.
- The ASPEC+ request must comply with local representative or address-for-service requirements under the national laws of the selected AMS IP Offices.
Applicants may expedite processing of the ASPEC+ request by emailing the ASPEC Secretariat at the IP Office of Singapore. In addition, certain limitations apply for some of the AMS IP Offices. For example, the IP Office of the Philippines does not accept ASPEC+ requests for pharmaceutical patent applications, while the IP Office of Malaysia does not accept such requests for divisional applications.
It is noted that the AMS IP Offices may suspend the ASPEC+ programme should participation exceed manageable levels at the respective IP Office(s) or for any other reason.
Conclusion
Developed under Singapore’s leadership as Chair of the ASEAN Patents Task Force, the new ASPEC+ programme is well suited for applicants seeking patent protection across multiple ASEAN countries. By offering harmonised examination reports and first office actions within committed timeframes of 10 to 14 months, the programme provides a more predictable, efficient, and cost-effective route to regional patent protection. ASPEC+ is therefore particularly beneficial for businesses seeking to build a strong patent portfolio across ASEAN and should form part of their regional patenting strategy.