A U.S. based fast food giant, McDonald's Corp has failed in a series of legal battles to stop a Singaporean company, Future Enterprises Pte Ltd ("FE") from using the marks "Mc" and "Mac" in their products. The Singapore Court of Appeal in the case of McDonald's Corp v Future Enterprises Pte Ltd [2005] 1 SLR […]
Enforcement of Patent Rights in South and South East Asia: Comparative Case Law
In South and Southeast Asia there is a growing awareness of patent rights and parties are now more willing to litigate to protect their patents in this huge and growing market. In Southeast Asia there is a lack of homegrown jurisprudence particularly as the various countries share various colonial legacies in terms of their legal […]
The Protection Of Kanji Characters In Malaysia – The Yomeishu Saga
Background The proprietors of Kanji character trade marks in Malaysia can take comfort from a decision of the Malaysian Court of Appeal which upheld the decision of the High Court where it was held that the wide usage of the phonetic sound of the combination of the Kanji characters in question among the local Chinese […]
Interlocutory Injunctions in Trade Mark Cases - Is the American Cynamid test still applicable in Malaysia
It is well established in law that an interlocutory injunction is ancillary to a cause of action and therefore it is only a party who has a cause of action who can apply for an interlocutory injunction (Siskina v Distos Compania Naviera SA [1979] AC 210). The primary objective of an interlocutory injunction is to […]
IP Standards in Malaysia Set To Gain Strength
On the 4th March 2005, The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs announced the proposal known as the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Strategic Modernisation Plan, which was developed with close co-operation between Malaysia and the European Union (EU). Covering every aspect of IPR including the marketing and legal framework, the blueprint aims to improve […]
Malaysia Acceded to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
With a backdrop of 1.2 million international patent applications covering various technologies have been filed since the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) began operating in 1978, Malaysia has finally acceded to become the 131st State to be a member o the PCT. It deposited its instrument of accession to the PCT on 16th May 2006. PCT […]
Amendments To The Trademark Act And Rules In Singapore
The Trade Marks Rules and Act have been recently amended and have come into force on the 1st of January 2006. The following concerns the main amendments that are the most likely to interest you. An application for registration will be treated as withdrawn if the applicant fails to respond to the Registrar's queries or […]
Caterpillar Inc successfully protects its "CAT" Trade Mark in Singapore
In the recent Singapore High Court decision of Caterpillar Inc v Ong Eng Peng (formerly trading as Catplus International) [2006] SGHC 58, Caterpillar Inc, a US incorporated company sued the defendant who had formerly traded as business known as Catplus International. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant's use of the CATPLUS marks in respect of […]
Criminal Charges for Copyright Infringement in Singapore
The criminalization of copyright infringement in Singapore has claimed its first victim in an interior design firm. The company PDM International was charged with using 51 pieces of illegal Microsoft, Adobe and Autodesk software worth an estimated S$ 50,000. The amendments to the Copyright Act in January 2005 made copyright infringement for a commercial advantage […]
Overview of the Amendments to the Singapore Patents Act, the Patents Rules in Conjunction with PCT Regulation Changes at the International Level
Singapore, having deposited its instrument of accession to the Patent Co-operation Treaty with WIPO on 23 November 1994, will witness some radical changes to its patent laws come 1 April 2007. As with the last major revision to the Act in July 2004, the 1 April 2007 amendments are of considerable epic proportions, challenging some […]