Should a cluster housing project in a relatively affordable, middle class housing estate – Yio Chu Kang be allowed to share the same name as an ultra-exclusive luxury resort in Bali when that name is not a registered trademark in Singapore? In the landmark case of Amanresorts Limited v Novelty Pte Ltd [2008] 2 SLR(R) […]
Passing Off and Trade Dress - Old Town White Coffee Vs. Old Taste Ipoh White Coffee
A Study on the Impact of KPI in Malaysia The recent case of Kopitiam Asia Pasific Sdn. Bhd. v Amazing Spectacular Sdn. Bhd. highlights certain points pertinent to the current intellectual property scene in Malaysia, especially the law relating to passing off. The case merits the possibility of suing in passing off of not only […]
The Return of Mühlbauer AG v Manufacturing Integration Technology Ltd – Role of Experts
It may be appreciated that our company last previously wrote on this Singapore High Court action in the early part of last year whereby the Court ruled in favour of the defendant that the plaintiff held an invalid patent in SG 117982 "Device for Inspecting and Rotating Electronic Components". In our previous article, it was […]
Philippines Battle Between Pfizer And Unilab Continues
One of the world's pharmaceutical giants, Pfizer, owns a patent for the anti-cholesterol drug "Atorvastatin Calcium" under Warner Lambert, which is valid and is in force until September 2012 in the Philippines. Pfizer marketed this drug under the brand Lipitor. The largest Philippine drug-maker, United Laboratories Inc. (Unilab), started selling in 2009 the generic version […]
Indonesia Makes Headway in Cancellation Action Proceedings
For Civil law jurisdictions like Indonesia, where rights in a trademark arise from registration, not use, a trademark cannot be enforced unless it is registered. The owners of internationally famous Trademarks such as LOUIS VUITTON, YVES SAINT LAURENT and GUCCI often face serious problems with world-wide infringement of these marks. If the mark is registered […]
Malaysia - The Law Of Passing Off Examined In Court
The Plaintiff's case The Plaintiff's brought an action against the Defendants for passing off, conspiracy to pass of, conspiracy to injure the trade of the Plaintiffs, malicious falsehood and slander of goods and infringement of trade mark under the Trade Mark Act 1976. The Plaintiff's product known as "Lady Gold" was registered under the Control […]
Malaysia - Patent Direct and Indirect Infringement
Direct infringement of a patent claim is briefly defined as an act of infringement of all claim elements of that claim by a single entity. For instance, direct infringement of a method or process claim occurs when a single entity performs all steps of the said method or process claim, whereas direct infringement of an […]
Malaysia - Megnaway Enterprise Sdn Bhd v Soon Lian Hoc
The Plaintiff's claim was base on the Defendant's infringement of their Copyright and unlawful interference with the Plaintiff's trade or business. Brief Facts Here the Plaintiff was a private limited company carrying on the business of manufacturing and distributing anti car theft system made especially for local made cars under trademark 'THEF-PRO', since 1991. Meanwhile […]
Malaysia - Declaration of Non-Infringement, Invalidation and Infringement Proceedings: A Malaysian Perspective
Declaration of Non-Infringement In Malaysia, any interested party has the right to apply to the IP Court for a ‘Declaration of Non-Infringement’ whereby the court may make a declaration, as against a patent owner, that the performance of a specific act does not constitute an infringement of the Malaysian patent concerned. However, should the act […]
Stricter IP Laws in Thailand - A new beginning
For quite some years now, pirated goods (mainly music, movies and fake branded goods) have been wrecking havoc on Thailand’s economy, growing from strength to strength, and stifling the organized industry. The Thai government, on its part, has been drawing a lot of flak for its failure to ensure IP protection. According to a recent […]