As part of Singapore’s continuous commitment to regularly review its intellectual property regimes to ensure that they are progressive and world-class, Singapore has signed and acceded to the Locarno Agreement Establishing an International Classification for Industrial Designs on 19 December…
The law of copyright is based on the principle that anyone who, by his or her own skill and labour, creates an original work shall enjoy the exclusive right to copy that work. Anyone who copies the created work without…
In a rare though welcome reversal, the Federal Court in Merck Sharp & Dohme & Anor v Hovid Berhad ([2019] 9 CLJ 1) has over-ruled its earlier authority on the effect of invalidation of an independent claim of a patent on the…
Earlier this year in a decision for Sunseap Group Pte Ltd & 2 Ors v Sun Electric Pte Ltd [2019] SGCA 4 (hereafter “Sunseap”)—a case between two Singapore based solar power companies—the Court of Appeal ruled that a High Court…
On 27 September 2019, Malaysia deposited the instrument of accession and became the 106th member country of the Madrid Protocol System. Prior to the said date, Malaysia was one of the two remaining ASEAN countries that still had not acceded…
Ch’ng Kim Chye & Anor t/a Lam Soon Huat v SP Yam Huat Sdn Bhd [2019] 10 MLJ 562 The Plaintiff is the common law owner of the following trademarks in respect of tobacco products. The Defendant is the registered…
An industrial design consists of the creation of a shape and configuration, or a pattern and ornamentation in two- or three-dimensional form containing aesthetic value that is used to produce a product, industrial commodity or handicraft. Processing of industrial design…
After close to a decade of intermittent discussions, proposals, referendums and making up for lost time between the powers-that-be and stakeholders, the new Trademarks Bill (and soon to be Act) of 2019 finally see the light of day. This would…
The patent-eligibility of computer-related inventions is a hot topic worldwide. The situation is seemingly forever in flux as the courts and patent offices around the world develop case law on the subject and constantly update their official practice. We are…
In Heineken Asia Pacific Pte Ltd v Super La Via Sdn Bhd [2019] MLJU 117, the Plaintiff is a company incorporated in Singapore and part of the Heineken Group which produces, packages, distributes, markets and sells more than 50 acclaimed beer, non-alcoholic…