How a smarter IP strategy helps businesses stay competitive in the AI economy

ARTIFICIAL intelligence has made innovation faster, cheaper and more accessible than ever. Ideas that once took months to develop can now be generated in hours, while products can be replicated across markets at unprecedented speed.

For businesses, that has shifted the challenge. Success is no longer determined solely by who innovates first, but by who can build a competitive advantage that competitors cannot easily copy.

Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) chief executive Tan Kong Hwee says: “What sets apart companies that scale successfully and those that struggle is not just the quality of their ideas, but also how well they create an advantage for themselves, while protecting and deriving value from it.

“This advantage can be driven by technology, data, processes, and branding, just as much as physical assets.”

The numbers back this up. A study by IPOS Singapore, found that, among Singaporean firms, intellectual property (IP) rights contributed to a 20.8 per cent increase in profit per invested capital per annum and a 21.7 per cent increase in profit per employee per annum, taking into account factors like industry, company size and location.

However, many businesses still view IP primarily through a legal lens. In an AI-driven economy, it is increasingly becoming a business strategy that can influence investment decisions, support international expansion and strengthen long-term competitiveness. 

While there is no single “right” way to approach IP, Tan points to three underutilised IP strategies businesses should pay more attention to.

1. Using IP to attract investors and partners

It is undeniable that AI has lowered the cost and hurdles of creating products – just think about how large language models fast-track research and idea generation these days.

As such, intangible assets (IAs) have become even more important for investors as they assess a company’s long-term competitive advantage.

For the most part, figuring out how to value a firm is more of an art than an exact science. Yet this is where IP can function as a signal of a company’s long-term potential.

Companies, particularly those just starting out, do not always recognise how effective IP can be in showcasing their ambitions to scale. That is understandable, according to Tan, as many early-stage founders tend to prioritise speed to market and product development over IP, thinking it is too complex or resource-intensive.

However, delays can prevent businesses from realising the full potential of their innovations. This is why Tan advises firms to start early by identifying – and rigorously documenting – their “core value drivers”.

Among those navigating this shift is Actxa. This Singapore-based healthcare tech company is best known for developing the step tracker used in the city-state’s National Steps Challenge.

As a deeptech firm, Actxa’s value extends well beyond the devices it builds. More specifically, its competitive advantage lies in the proprietary algorithms, clinical datasets and scientific know-how underpinning its tech, making IAs and IP central to how it innovates and scales.

Recognising this early, the company “built IP discipline into the R&D process itself rather than bolting it on later,” says Actxa chief scientist Du Yao.

Rather than hyperfixating on patents in its early years, Actxa sought to secure protections that best fit a young, data-driven company. It registered trademarks, adopted rigorous trade secret practices to protect its algorithms and methods, and invested in the hard-to-replicate proprietary training data behind its models.

“This early groundwork directly enabled how we grew,” Du recalls. “As we matured, our IP only deepened as part of our brand and products, compounding into brand equity that we own outright.”

These assets became key selling points during talks with investors and partners looking for evidence that a company had advantages beyond financial performance, highlights Tan.

“They are developing something that competitors cannot easily replicate, and having a strong IP strategy can open doors to funding, great partnerships and cross-border opportunities,” he adds.

2. Protecting your competitive edge as you expand globally

AI has also made it dramatically easier to copy innovations across borders.

For companies looking to expand internationally, strategic IP planning has become increasingly important as copycats emerge more quickly across markets.

“Even if your products do not cross borders, the ideas behind them travel almost instantly, and that also means it can be replicated just as quickly,” Tan explains.

He also notes that as a result, rapid imitation is spreading, especially in “diverse, fragmented and highly competitive” markets like those in Asia Pacific.

Not only can this confuse consumers, but it can also erode trust and undermine the original company’s ability to scale.

On the other hand, a well-established, well-protected brand can confidently enter new markets. That is the case for Actxa, which is gradually bringing its clinical work beyond its home base in Singapore.

“IP clarity has supported our clinical work because it makes it clear up front who owns what, so we know that our innovations are secure in the markets that matter to us,” Du shares.

Tan warns that some founders do not always understand that IP requirements can vary across borders, making planning essential. To make their lives easier, he says companies should develop their IP strategies in parallel with their expansions. This will help them figure out which assets need protections and how regulations may vary market-to-market.

Actxa’s rigorous approach to IP provides an added benefit here by enabling the company to quickly bring its wellness offerings to market.

“Our strategy ensures that each new product, brand and market is built on the same protected foundation rather than having to create fresh exposure,” Du explains. “In other words, the rigour that protects our IP is the same rigour that shortens our path to market today and unlocks regulated products tomorrow.”

3. Turning hidden assets into competitive advantage

As AI continues to reshape innovation, companies are increasingly recognising that there is more to securing a competitive advantage than formal IP rights such as patents and trademarks.

“In sectors like AI, value doesn’t just lie in the end-products,” Tan says, noting that the true value of an innovation is increasingly found in a company’s IAs like proprietary data and workflows.

“Most people still have a relatively narrow view of what constitutes IP, so less-visible IAs can be overlooked,’ he adds. “In practice, however, these assets are often what differentiate one company from another.”

For Actxa, this includes assets such as its blood glucose evaluation and monitoring (BGEM) algorithms, its proprietary database of digital biomarkers, and the clinical evidence backing them up.

Du emphasises that these IAs are even more important to the company’s future than its patents and trademarks.

“This corpus of proprietary clinical datasets and library of digital biomarkers we’ve built since 2015 – together with our science team’s accumulated know-how – is what makes BGEM so accurate and difficult to reproduce,” he says.

Du also shares that having a good grasp of the patent landscape allowed the company to “steer R&D toward genuinely novel approaches.”

“We avoid encroaching on others’ rights, which is far cheaper to do at the design stage than after launch,” he says.

As AI evolves, so must IP strategies

In today’s hyper-competitive, digital-first landscape, AI’s acceleration of the innovation cycle makes standing out from the crowd even harder.

There is no universal playbook for navigating this shift. Questions around data ownership, AI-generated outputs, IAs and competitive advantage have become integral to running a business, and not just matters left to the legal team.  Companies are increasingly grappling with whether they can handle IP in a business-as-usual manner now that AI is reshaping how innovation is created, protected and commercialised. It has become imperative to rethink how to create, protect and capture value.

These are the kinds of conversations taking place at Singapore IP Week 2026, which will be held from August 26 to 27, convening business leaders, policymakers, innovators and IP experts under the theme of “The rise of AI: Is it IP as usual?”

The event will explore how AI is transforming the way innovation is created, protected and commercialised, and what businesses need to do to stay ahead.

The Ministry of Law and IPOS will also hold a public consultation to explore refinements to Singapore’s regime and co-create the approach to this and other AI-related issues. Considering the evolving views and practices in this space, the consultation aims to take a balanced approach by seeking to understand lived realities and gather perspectives from industry stakeholders around the world.

Singapore IP Week’s Global Forum in Intellectual Property will also cover AI-related themes across various panels featuring speakers from OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, Alibaba, Tencent, Applied Materials and other global leaders, to help companies better navigate the current landscape.

“Ultimately, AI is changing how businesses create value,” says Tan. “The question is no longer whether companies should think about IP, but whether they’re thinking about it strategically enough.”

IPOS is Singapore’s national IP office, overseeing the registration, examination and administration of IP rights. Together with its capability-building arm, IPOS International, the agency empowers businesses to harness IAs and IP for growth through training, advisory and resources.

IPOS convenes the annual Singapore IP Week, the world’s premier IP event that brings together IP thought leaders, legal experts and innovative enterprises.

Explore the programme for Singapore IP Week 2026 and register here with the code SIPWMEDIA to enjoy a special rate.

This article was first published in Tech in Asia.