Trademark rights are territorial, and one of the rare times these separate territories shake hands is through the historic Paris Convention, which gives rise (to convention countries) to a powerful global safety net known as a priority claim. This mechanism gives trademark proprietors a strict six-month window within which to file a trademark application in […]
Tag: trademark application
Revision of Trademark Goods and Services Classifications in Thailand under the Nice Classification 13th Edition
The Nice Classification of Goods and Services (NCL), established in 1957, is the international system for classifying goods and services for trademark registration, ensuring consistency across jurisdictions, particularly for Madrid Protocol filings. Although Thailand is not a party to the Nice Agreement, the Thai Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) has applied the NCL as a reference framework since […]
Case summary of Symphony Holdings Limited v Skins IP Limited [2025] SGIPOS 3
I. Background Symphony Holdings Limited v. Skins IP Limited [2025] SGIPOS 3 concerned an opposition by Symphony Holdings Limited (the “Opponent”) against an application by Skins IP Limited (the “Applicant”) to register the following word trade mark, “SKINS”, (the “Subject Mark”) in Singapore. The Opponent, a Hong Kong-based sports-branding company, opposed the application based on […]
SINGAPORE: IPOS Examiner Rejects Registration of Scientific Abbreviation
The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) has refused to register a scientific abbreviation as a trademark even though the applicant was the first to discover the substance. In the matter of a trademark application by BioMedical Research Group Inc. & Anor. ([2024] SGIPOS 3), BioMedical Research Group Inc. and Macrophi Inc. sought to register the mark in […]
AMENDMENTS TO TRADEMARK IN CIRCULAR NO.23/2023/TT-BKHCN
Further to the numerous changes introduced via Decree 65 on 23 August 2023 (https://www.mirandah.com/vietnam-updates-in-trade-mark-law/), the Vietnamese Government has on 30th November 2023 issued Circular No.23/2023/TT-BKHCN (hereinafter “Circular 23”) making more amendments to the Vietnam Intellectual Property (“IP”) laws, aimed at providing guidance for implementation, and aligning IP practice as a result of changes to the […]
Vietnam – Changes to Trademark Law and IP Enforcement
Vietnam Decree No. 65/2023/ND-CP (Decree 65) took effect on 23 August 2023. Decree 65 represents the latest state of IP rights establishment and enforcement in Vietnam. Decree 65 provides guidance on the implementation of the Intellectual Property Law 2022 (the IP Law), particularly in the realms of IP registration and enforcement. In brief, Decree 65 […]
Singapore: Importance of the use of a registered mark in a revocation action
In Singapore, a registered trademark may be susceptible to cancellation if it has not been used within five years from completion of registration, or if such use has been suspended for a continuous period of five years or more. The following case is a reminder. Comfort Lab Inc., also known as Kabushiki Kaisha Comfort Lab […]
SINGAPORE: Examiner Rejects “PARTY LIKE GATSBY” Mark for Lack of Distinctiveness
Slogans are useful tools in brand advertisements. However, as they often consist of ordinary words and phrases which are laudatory in nature, slogans generally do not meet the distinctiveness requirement for purposes of trademark registration in the absence of evidence of use. The following recent case reminds us of this. Arangur UG (haftungsbeschrankt) (applicant) applied […]
Amendments to the Rules and Regulation on Inter Partes Proceedings in the Philippines
The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) issued a Memorandum Circular No. 2022-013 on “Amendments to the Rules and Regulations on Inter Partes Proceedings” on 27 May 2022, which took effect on 30 June 2022. These amendments are in response to challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, to ensure the continuity of operations and […]
SINGAPORE: Use It or Lose It
A recent decision by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore issued on September 22, 2021, shed light on the use of a registered trademark, as well as the ways in which a trademark owner can depend on its consent to a separate third party’s use of its trademark to prove genuine use. Unilever PLC (the […]