Patents are legal documents that claim "ownership" for the intellectual input on aspects of a product or design.
Patent claims are often territory-specific, and because there are different definition and ways of claiming originality, caution in interpreting patent information is required. Consult a librarian if you need help, or refer to the Patents Guide.
Standards are useful documents if you are designing a product for mass production and/or need to meet specifications in order to achieve a certain award or market requirements. NUS Libraries subscribe to 5 major sets of standards (national and international). Please refer to the Standards Guide if you are looking for standards available to you at NUS.