In brief
On 6 April 2026, the nine participating ASEAN Member States’ (AMS) Intellectual Property (IP) Offices launched the ASEAN Patent Examination Co-operation Plus (ASPEC+) programme.
Developed under Singapore’s chairmanship of the ASEAN Patents Task Force, ASPEC+ is a new option offered under the existing ASPEC framework. It is designed to deliver more closely harmonised patent reports and committed timelines to applicants seeking patent protection across ASEAN.
In more detail
ASPEC+ builds on the existing ASPEC programme, the first regional patent work-sharing programme launched in 2009 among the AMS IP Offices of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Under the regular ASPEC programme which operates sequentially, an AMS IP Office’s search and examination report is first submitted to a second AMS IP Office to accelerate patent examination. Under the ASPEC+ enhancements, multiple AMS IP Offices work collaboratively to deliver their respective first office actions within committed timelines.
Each AMS IP Office retains responsibility to issue examination results in accordance with its national legislation and practices, with no obligation to conform to the findings of other AMS IP Offices.
ASPEC+ maintains the same accessibility features as ASPEC, operating in English and is free of charge to applicants. Official search and examination fees at the AMS IP Offices of choice continue to apply.
The main features and benefits of ASPEC+ are:
- Flexible office selection – applicants may choose their preferred AMS IP Offices based on their market priorities.
- First office action within 10 to 14 months from the selected AMS IP Offices, providing early certainty on the status of multiple patent applications in ASEAN.
- Enhanced search and examination results through an exchange of expertise between the selected Offices.
- Possibility of identical or similar examination results from the selected Offices.
- Optimisation of patent prosecution effort, time and resources by preparing simultaneous responses to identical or similar examination results, where possible.
- Increasingly more consistent examination standards across ASEAN over time, reducing complexity for businesses expanding into multiple markets in the region.
For more information on ASPEC+, including the ASPEC+ Applicant Guidelines and Request Form, please visit the ASEAN IP website.
Key takeaways
ASPEC+ represents a practical step forward for applicants pursuing patent protection across multiple ASEAN jurisdictions. By enabling parallel examination by selected AMS IP Offices and offering a committed first office action timeline of 10 to 14 months, together with the prospect of harmonised examination results, ASPEC+ improves predictability and allows applicants to better plan regional prosecution strategies.
From a portfolio management perspective, ASPEC+ provides earlier insight into how different AMS IP Offices may assess patentability for the same invention. This can inform decisions on claim strategy, amendments, and whether to proceed or consolidate filings in certain markets before incurring extended prosecution costs. Where examination results are aligned, applicants may also be able to prepare coordinated responses, reducing duplication of effort and improving consistency in claim scope across ASEAN.
However, ASPEC+ does not eliminate jurisdiction‑specific considerations. Each AMS IP Office continues to apply its own laws and practices, and outcomes may still diverge. ASPEC+ should therefore be used as a strategic coordination tool, rather than a one‑size‑fits‑all solution, particularly for commercially important filings or time‑sensitive technologies.
It is recommended to consider ASPEC+ where early multi-country considerations matter, for example, platform tech, medtech, electronics, or alternatively where fundraising/partnering needs early patentability covered. ASPEC+ may be less compelling to use in cases where: (i) only one or two ASEAN markets matter, or (ii) prosecution will be heavily country-tailored anyway, for example, where subject matter/patentability constraints are known to diverge across IP offices.
For further information and to discuss what this development might mean for you, please get in touch with your usual Baker McKenzie contact.