The Tripartite Alliance Limited (TAL), an organisation that oversees the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP), was fined $29,000 for data breach due to an incident of data hacked and accessed in 2020. TAFEP handles clients’ employment system database as well as provides mediation and counsel in employment-related disputes. Over 12,000 individuals […]
Publications
A sea change in Singapore’s data privacy law
Singapore’s Personal Data Protection (Amendment) Bill 2020 was passed on November 2, 2020, following extensive public consultations between 2017 and 2020, and came into effect on February 1, 2021. The amendments to the PDPA bring about much-needed updates to align Singapore’s data privacy regime with international standards and best practices. The key amendments in the […]
INDIA- REGISTERING ‘N95’ AS A TRADE MARK TO ‘MASK’ MALAFIDE INTENT?
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of N95 masks has proliferated exponentially. Research scientists from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) carried out studies and found the N95 masks to be the most effective at reducing the horizontal spread of infectious diseases, including COVID-19. Indeed, the term N95 has now become commonplace. In that […]
New Regulation of Ministry of Law and Human Rights Amending the Previous Implementation Regulation for Trademark Law No. 20 of 2016
On 3 February 2021, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights of Republic Indonesia issued an amended implementation regulation to support the provisions of the current Trademark Law No. 20 of 2016. This implementation regulation is No. 12 of 2021 (the “Regulation”) was issued to accelerate the timeline for prosecuting a trademark application. In Article […]
What to Expect When the Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 Is Fully Enforced in June 2022
Incidents of unauthorized disclosure of personal information to third parties has raised concern over personal data security across the globe. In 2015, the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) was published, being the first personal data protection law passed to protect all European Union citizens. To comply with international standards, Thailand has adopted the provisions of […]
Late filing of evidence in a trademark opposition proceeding, pardoned!
This matter pertains to registration of the mark “BEABA” at the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) filed under No. 40201909817Y in the name Biba (Zhejiang) Nursing Products Co., Ltd. (the applicant), and an opposition thereto by BEABA (the opponent). The issue surrounds a late request for an extension of time to file evidence by […]
Diesel S.P.A. v. Bontton Sdn Bhd: The own name doctrine and the court’s power to make declarations of non-infringement
In Diesel S.P.A. v. Bontton Sdn Bhd [2020] MLJU 715, the Malaysian Court of Appeal was faced with, inter alia, the novel issues of, firstly, whether the court has discretionary powers under Malaysian law and/or an inherent jurisdiction to grant a negative declaration in respect of infringement, and, secondly, whether it should grant recognition of […]
Thailand’s Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) issue a new “Fast Track System” for Trademark Registration and Trademark Renewal
As per the recent Department of Intellectual Property (DIP)’s Declaration, the DIP has announced a Fast Track system for (1) Trademark Registration and (2) Trademark Renewal (effective from 23th February 2021), which can be summarised as follows: Trademark Registration Fast Track System– The usual timeframe for Trademark Registration as per the DIP Manual (as issued […]
Singapore: “Champengwine” application denied due to the grounds of bad faith
“CHAMPAGNE,” in connection to wines, is a geographical indication that it is produced through certain local requirements and is grown from specific regions in France. Keep Waddling International Pte. Ltd (the applicant) and its related companies have been using the trademark “PENGWINE” as their house-mark for their wines originating from Chile since April 2004. These […]
Gromark Consumers Enterprise & GK Laboratory (Asia): IP mediation
The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) recently had a successful mediation in October 2020, where the parties reached a mutually beneficial outcome that met the commercial concerns of both of them in a span of just eight hours. This success is enhanced by the fact that the dispute involved questions of intellectual property rights […]