A recent case at the Delhi High Court has dealt with the overlap between copyright and design protection and its application to the fashion industry in India. The questions addressed by the case were, firstly , whether drawings or sketches are artistic works and, secondly, whether the object or commercial intention be tested while applying […]
Publications
Malaysia - How To Take Action Against Counterfeits
Owners of trade marks face a difficult choice when they learn that their products have been counterfeited and are being sold in Malaysia. The recommended course of action is to conduct an investigation by an authorized private investigator to find out who is producing or selling the counterfeit product and obtain a trap purchase. Through […]
Biosafety Act 2007 and Genetic Modified Organisms Products in Malaysia
Malaysia recognizes the twin aspects of modern biotechnology being the great potential offered by modern biotechnology and the need to protect human health and the environment from the possible adverse effects of biotechnology products. Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are produced via Genetic Modification (GM) technology are one of the main products from biotechnology. These organisms […]
Singapore – “Virtual Shopping” comes to service marks?
A recent practice amendment by the Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom has acknowledged the presence of online virtual shopping malls. In PAN 01/09, issued on 24 February 2009, the UK IPO announced inter alia that the description 'virtual shopping malls' will be accepted by the Registry in the specification of services in Class […]
Malaysia - Trade Description Order for trade mark infringement
In Malaysia a trade mark owner can enforce his rights in a number of ways. A effective means of enforcement against an infringer of a trade mark or a person liable for passing off, would be to obtain a Trade Description Order (TDO). This is provided by virtue of section 16 of the Trade Description […]
The Singapore Court Revokes Patent For Lack of Novelty And Inventive Step
In a recent patent infringement case in Singapore, the courts dealt with the issue of validity of the patent in suit. The case was between Muhlbauer AG (the plaintiff) and Manufacturing Integration Technology Ltd (the defendant). The plaintiff is a company incorporated in Germany. It is the registered proprietor of Singapore patent number 117982 entitled […]
Malaysia - Court Nullifies Trade Description Order
In Malaysia a trade mark owner has the possibility of enforcing his rights by way of trade description order wherein an order of court is obtained to declare an infringing brand as false trade description, which allows infringing products to be seized by the authorities and the infringers prosecuted. However the importance of obtaining an […]
Singapore - Copyright Infringement Confirmed As Copyright Infringement Suit of a Virtual Map Runs Its Course
A long running legal saga has now come to an end with the Singapore Court of Appeal's decision that Virtual Map (VM) had no further right to appeal against the High Court's decision finding them guilty of infringing the Singapore Land Authority's (SLA) copyright in it's street directory vector data and it's address point vector […]
Appeal Procedures in Vietnam for Industrial Design Rights In Place
On 19-20 December 2007, the National Intellectual Property Office (NOIP) of Vietnam in co-operation with the EC-ASEAN Intellectual Property Rights Co-operation Programme, ECAP II organised a two-day seminar in Hanoi. This comprehensive training with highlights on Opposition and Appeal Procedures on Trade Marks and Industrial Designs managed to gather about 100 participants of the Inspectorate […]
India - Trade Mark Holder Scores Absolut Victory
V&S Vin & Spirit Aktiebolag (V&S), the owner of the Absolut trade mark, one of the most well-known and reputed brands in the world for spirits and luxury goods, filed a civil suit in India against Bangalore based pharmaceutical company Pharmed and one of its subsidiaries (Pharmed) for infringing, passing off and diluting its well-known […]