It was recently commented by the Penang Local Government, Traffic Management and Environment Committee chairman, Chow Kon Yeow that 'Although intellectual property laws in Malaysia are in place and confirmed with international standard for intellectual property protection needs, enforcement initiative by relevant government agencies is required to effectively protect both foreign and local investors' intellectual […]
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 […]
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 An application for registration will be treated as withdrawn if the applicant fails to respond to the Registrar's queries or […]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 […]
Diplomatic Conference On Revised Trademark Treaty To Be Held In Singapore
From March 13 to 31, 2006, Singapore will hold the Diplomatic Conference for the Adoption of a Revised Trademark Law Treaty, which will be organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization. The TLT has currently 33 member countries. About 650 top intellectual property policy makers and government experts from about 180 countries, branded goods industry […]
Singapore - Nike International Ltd v. Campomar SL (2006) SGCA 2
A recent Singapore Court of Appeal decision on what constitutes trade mark "use" Campomar, a Spanish company, was the proprietor of the trade mark NIKE in Class 3 with respect to perfumes. Campomar's NIKE had been registered since 30 December 1989 with the registration taking effect from 2 April 1986. On 21 January 2002, US […]
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 […]
Singapore Intellectual Property Laws - a Maturing Jurisprudential Landscape
PATENT Patent holder prevails in patent infringement suit: Trek Technology (Singapore) Pte Ltd v FE Global Electronics Pte Ltd and Others [1] On 16 April 2002, Trek was granted a Singapore patent for a portable USB enabled computer data storage device. Trek's product is sold under Trek's registered trademark "ThumbDrive". Trek's patent has also been […]
Malaysia - Trade Mark Use on the Internet – A Malaysian Perspective
In order to ensure the validity of a trade mark, it is a requirement that the owner of the mark put their trade mark to use to indicate a connection in the course of trade to the goods or services applied for. While there are no decided court cases in Malaysia on the subject of […]