To tighten trade mark enforcement, Malaysia passed the Trade Descriptions Act (TDA) in 2011. The purpose of this Act is to prohibit false trade descriptions and false or misleading statements, conduct and practices in goods and services, thereby protecting the interests of the consumers. In a recent case (DJ Auto Components Manufacturing v FBK Systems), […]
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Singapore Strengthens Its Patent System
1 2 3 4 5 (0 votes) Singapore Strengthens Its Patent System On July 10, 2012, the Singapore Parliament passed the Patent (Amendment) Bill and the Intellectual Property (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill geared towards strengthening and enhancing Singapore’s patent system in order to support the growing international patent capabilities, and developing Singapore as an Asian intellectual […]
Thailand - Distribution and Trade Mark Licensing Distinguished
The recordal of a license is mandatory under the Thai Trade Marks Act. However, in practice, parties are not aware of this requirement and so do not register the license. Such non-compliance is aggravated by the fact that the Act does not define the term “trade mark licence.” To compound the problem, not much jurisprudence […]
Malaysia - Squiggles Case Clarifies Non-Use
In a landmark judgment, LB Confectionary v QAF, the Federal Court in Malaysia ruled on a dispute involving rights over use of the trade mark Squiggles. The judgment has a bearing on trade mark practice in Malaysia as it deals with novel issues and could affect commercial transactions. The issues before the Court were threefold: […]
Singapore - An Analysis of Recent Discussions of the High Court on Trademark Infringement and Passing Off
The Singapore High Court had to contend with a tsunami of trademark cases in the first half of 2012 when it adjudicated three major trademark infringement and passing off cases. Before being ‘swept away’ by the wave of IP jurisprudence, we set out below a summary of the facts and decisions. The first case pitted […]
Thailand - Smell and Sound Marks to be Introduced
Thailand has several amendments in the pipeline for the Trade Marks Act. Amongst them is the introduction of smell and sound marks. The bill extends the meaning of a "mark" to include non-visual trade marks such as sounds and smells, which will bring Thai trade mark law in line with international standards. To be registered, […]
Malaysia - Voluntary Copyright Registration Introduced
Regulations pertaining to the voluntary notification of copyright came into force in Malaysia on June 1, 2012. There was no formal copyright registration process prior to the Regulations. Being a party to the Berne Convention, copyrighted works are protected immediately upon creation and fulfilment of certain conditions in the Copyright Act (original or derivative work; […]
Philippines - Marks Confusingly Similar Despite Differing Uses of Pharmaceuticals
In a case decided in March 2012, Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi-Adventis, successfully opposed the registration of COMAXIN in Class 5 by Getz Bros Philippines, Inc. based on the mark’s confusing similarity to the opponent’s mark COMBAXIM. In deciding the opposition, the Bureau of Legal Affairs (BLA) of the Intellectual Property Office of […]
Philippines - Madrid Protocol Comes into Force July 25
The Philippines has become the 85th contracting party - and the third ASEAN member state after Singapore and Vietnam to join the Madrid Protocol. Philippines President Benigno C. Aquino III signed the instrument of accession on March 27, 2012; it was deposited with the World Intellectual Property Organization on April 25, 2012. The Intellectual Property […]
Thailand - Overcoming Trade Mark Refusals
Office Actions are issued by the Thai Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) on grounds of non-distinctiveness or identical/similar character to a well-known and/or registered mark. However, the procedure for evaluating the response is different from other jurisdictions, making Thailand a difficult territory for IP protection. For a non-distinctiveness objection, the trade mark owner will be […]