The Supreme Court of Thailand has dealt with the issue of novelty of a design patent in the case of Little Bell Co., Ltd v Pongsawad Tiananon (Case No. 2824/2007). In this case, the Plaintiff, a corporation known as Little Bell Co. Ltd took legal action and contested the validity of the Second Defendant's product […]
Malaysia - Functional or utilitarian characteristics of an article of manufacture are not protectable under passing off law
Alfa Laval ( M) Sdn Bhd v Ng Ah Hai & Ors [2008] 5 MLJ 344 The Plaintiff, Alfa Laval (M) Sdn Bhd, a manufacturer and supplier of plate heat exchangers and plate under the brand 'Alfa Laval' applied for an injunction to inter alia restrain the Defendants from passing off imitation plate heat exchangers […]
Intellectual Property Laws In Thailand And The Fashion Industry
The Thai government hopes that Thailand can become a great world trendsetter for fashion design in the near future. Although there is no specific legislation that protects fashion design, there are various Intellectual Property Rights provisions that can be called upon to secure exclusive fashion design rights as well as a general tort provision against […]
Singapore Copyright Infringement - Here comes Meizu M8, no need to wait for iPhone
In spite of Singapore’s very small population, it has more than ninety percent (90%) mobile phone penetration rate. This is nearly four million users; many of which are eager to upgrade to the latest phone models. It has been argued that this is the reason why Apple chose Singapore to launch its revolutionary iPhone in […]
Protection Of Industrial Design In Indonesia
Regulations on Industrial Design Several International Agreements regulate the protection of Industrial Design, among others: The Paris Convention (ratified by the Indonesian Government through Presidential Decree No. 15 Year 1997), The TRIPs Agreement (ratified by the Indonesian Government through Law No. 7 Year 1994), The Hague Agreement (Indonesia became a member of this Agreement in […]
India - The Eye-Test for Novelty of Designs
In a recent appeal case, Gopal Glass Works Ltd v AC of Patents & Designs Ors 2006 (33) PTC 434 (cal), Kolkata High Court examined the grounds for cancelling a registered design. According to Section 19 of the Indian Designs Act (amended) 2000, "prior publication" anywhere in the world and prior registration in India are […]
US-Indian IP Pact Boosts Cooperation
Bilateral trade between India and the US has increased exponentially over the past two decades, and gathered a full head of steam last year. In March 2006, US president Bush visited India for a meeting with prime minister Manmohan Singh on increased global partnership between the two nations. This was well received and very successful. […]
India - Are We TRIPs Compliant Yet?
In last five years, the Indian parliament has amended the patent law twice. Despite the government's efforts to make the patent law compliant with the TRIPs Agreement, the international community's qualms about India's patent law remains unchanged. The debate on TRIPs compliance is heating up again since the publication of a report on various patent […]
Kingdom of Nepal Joins Berne Convention
The provisions of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works came into force on January 11, 2006 in Nepal. The Copyright Act 2059 B.S. (enacted in 2002) had already incorporated the provisions of the Berne Convention related to copyrights and intellectual property rights protection. This Convention adopted at Berne in 1886 […]
New IP Law In Vietnam
A new Intellectual Property Law has been enacted and adopted by the National Assembly in Vietnam on the 19th of November 2005. This new law will be effective on the 1st of July 2006. There are 6 parts in this new law, divided in 18 chapters to comprise a total of 226 articles. Part 1, […]