Your Brand, Our Mission
A Singapore trademark consultancy built around your business.
A registration is only as good as the business it protects
Search, filing, examination, and portfolio management — built around what a business actually does.
Cat and Pillar takes the time to understand each client's business and its future plans prior to filing, and files directly in the jurisdictions relevant to that business, rather than routing applications through a third-party correspondent.
Our Approach
Most trademark deficiencies are not the result of dramatic errors, but of a class selected because it appeared correct, rather than because it reflected the underlying business. A publishing brand may be misclassified under a goods class covering paper products, rather than the class covering publishing services. A business may file under an advertising-services class in the belief that it is required simply to sell through its own website and social media channels, when it is not. These errors are often not discovered until years later, when a registration is tested and found not to cover the business's actual activities. Cat and Pillar was established to close this gap: the firm takes the time required, prior to filing, to ensure the specification is built around the business rather than assumed from its name.
The Firm's Name
Cat and Pillar takes its name from a play on the word caterpillar. The butterfly is widely regarded as a symbol of transformation, and every business exists, in its own way, to transform the world around it. That transformation, however, depends first on a solid foundation, in the same way a caterpillar's discipline precedes its capacity for flight. Cat and Pillar exists to provide that foundation, in the form of the brand protection a business needs before it can grow and transform with confidence.
Our Reach
“Coordinated at all times from Singapore”
Cat and Pillar is incorporated in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Australia, and files directly, without a correspondent firm, in those jurisdictions and in New Zealand, Brunei, the United Kingdom, and Benelux and Scandinavia. Beyond these jurisdictions, a global network of partner firms extends coverage further, coordinated at all times from Singapore.
- ✓Direct filing in 8 jurisdictions
- ✓Partner network reaching 90+ jurisdictions
- ✓A single point of contact in Singapore
90+ reached40+ years combinedOur Team
“Examiner-grade assessment, applied consistently”
Cat and Pillar is led by Co-Founder and CEO Tan Yan Shao, a former IPOS trademark examiner, and Co-Founder and Senior IP Manager Lim Hai Bee, alongside a team with more than 40 years of combined experience in trademark prosecution. The firm's assessment methodology draws on Yan Shao's background as an examiner, and is applied consistently across the team.
Frequently Asked Questions
A trademark consultancy assists with the search, preparation, filing, and management of trademark applications with the relevant offices, in Singapore and overseas. At Cat and Pillar, this work begins with an understanding of the client's business, so that applications reflect its actual activities.
No. A trademark may be registered in Singapore through a trademark agent, without engaging a law firm. Cat and Pillar manages search, filing, and examiner responses directly.
Cat and Pillar takes the time to understand each client's business prior to filing, so that the specification reflects its actual activities rather than a standard template. The firm also files directly in more jurisdictions than most firms, rather than routing applications through correspondents.
Yes. Cat and Pillar files directly in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, the United Kingdom, and Benelux and Scandinavia, and extends further through a global partner network. Cat and Pillar advises clients on which markets are relevant to their business.
By getting in touch. An initial conversation regarding a brand is provided at no cost, following which Cat and Pillar will advise on next steps.
Ready to protect
a brand?
Start the conversation with Cat and Pillar. An initial discussion about a brand is provided at no cost.