he objective of the Singapore Treaty is to create a modern and dynamic international framework for the harmonization of administrative trademark registration procedures. Building on the Trademark Law Treaty of 1994 (TLT), the Singapore Treaty has a wider scope of application and addresses more recent developments in the field of communication technologies. The Singapore Treaty is applicable to all types of marks registrable under the law of a given Contracting Party. Contracting Parties are free to choose the means of communication with their offices (including communications in electronic form or by electronic means of transmittal).  Relief measures in respect of time limits as well as provisions on the recording of trademark licenses were introduced, and an Assembly of the Contracting Parties established. However, other provisions of the Singapore Treaty (such as the requirements to provide for multiclass applications and registrations and the use of the International ("Nice") Classification) closely follow the TLT. The two treaties are separate, and may be ratified or adhered to independently.

Unlike the TLT, the Singapore Treaty applies generally to all marks that can be registered under the law of a Contracting Party. Most significantly, it is the first international instrument dealing with trademark law to explicitly recognize non-traditional marks. The Treaty is applicable to all types of marks, including non-traditional visible marks, such as holograms, three-dimensional marks, color, position and movement marks, as well as non-visible marks such as sound, olfactory or taste and feel marks. The Regulations Under the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks provide for the mode of representation of