Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) is a set of initiatives for providing accelerated patent prosecution procedures by sharing information between some patent offices. It permits each participating patent office to benefit from the work previously done by the other patent office, with the goal of reducing examination workload and improving patent quality.The patent office that receives […]
Striking a Balance – Malaysia looking ahead
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) enforcement will always be about striking a balance between the rights of the Intellectual Property (IP) proprietor and the general public’s right to freely use and share available resources and innovations and improve on existing technologies and ideas. IP laws in Malaysia have been in conformance with International IP laws as […]
Well-Known Marks Are Protected In Singapore
The concept of well-known marks was first introduced in Singapore when the Trade Mark Act was amended to provide for the protection of well-known marks in 1999. As such, even if a well-known mark is not registered in Singapore, the owner of a well- known trade mark may take action to ensure protection of their […]
India - Copyright Law Revamped For Digital Age
In view of recent advances in technology, copyright protection has to be more complex. The widespread use of electronic modes of communication and data storage makes it essential that copyright law takes these technologies into account to safeguard the interests of the copyright owners and provides them with effective remedies. The Indian Copyright Act 1957 […]
Series of 5 Short Recent Cases in Thailand
Coca-Cola v The Intellectual Property Department The Supreme Court issued a historic decision when it found in favour of the trademark registration of Coca-Cola's 2-dimentional bottle picture in black and white for use with non-alcoholic beverages. The mark was considered inherently distinctive enough to acquire registration under Section 7 of Thai Trademark Act. Proof of […]
Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) programme between US and Singapore
An applicant which aims to protect his invention in multiple countries has to seek patent protection in each of the desired country. This means having his application searched and/or examined independently in each of the country. The timeline to obtain a patent differs in each country, which mostly depends on the speed of prosecution of […]
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 […]
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 […]