Should a cluster housing project in a relatively affordable, middle class housing estate – Yio Chu Kang be allowed to share the same name as an ultra-exclusive luxury resort in Bali when that name is not a registered trademark in Singapore? In the landmark case of Amanresorts Limited v Novelty Pte Ltd [2008] 2 SLR(R) […]
India – Court Rules On Pre-Grant Opposition
Recently the Delhi High court decided on an important question of law concerning the maintainability of a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India against an order of Controller of Patents either allowing or rejecting a pre-grant opposition under Section 25(1) of the Patents Act 1970. The case is UCB FARCHIM SA […]
Singapore – Landmark Patent Revocation by IPOS under Section 80 of the Patent Act
Cargill International Trading Pte Ltd v Martek Biosciences Corporation [2009] SGIPOS 12 Introduction On 20 January 2006, Cargill International Trading Pte Ltd (the Applicant) filed an application with the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) to revoke the Singapore Patent No. 42669 entitled “Arachidonic Acid and Methods for the Production and Use thereof” owned by […]
India – Copyright And Designs Act Harmonized
In India, original artistic works may sometimes fall under the Designs Act and the Copyrights Act. This overlap has been much debated and has come up for adjudication several times before the courts. In a recent case, the Copyright Board made some pertinent observations, especially with respect to artistic works produced by the application of […]
Philippines – Clarification On Power Of Attorney
Intellectual Property Rights holders can execute a General Power of Attorney (POA) authorizing its agent in the Philippines to represent them in applications and/or registrations before IP Philippines. One signed POA will be sufficient to cover present and future filings to be made in the name of the same applicant. However, a separate Power of […]
The Return of Mühlbauer AG v Manufacturing Integration Technology Ltd – Role of Experts
It may be appreciated that our company last previously wrote on this Singapore High Court action in the early part of last year whereby the Court ruled in favour of the defendant that the plaintiff held an invalid patent in SG 117982 “Device for Inspecting and Rotating Electronic Components”. In our previous article, it was […]
Malaysia – Patents, Nucleic Acids And Microorganisms
The Malaysian Patents Act 1983 (hereinafter referred to as ‘The Act’) requires that an invention, to be patentable, it should be new, involving an inventive step and industrially applicable. Section 13 (1) (b) of ‘The Act’ lists non-patentable inventions and it excludes the patentability of plant or animal varieties or essentially biological products for the […]
Indonesia Makes Headway in Cancellation Action Proceedings
For Civil law jurisdictions like Indonesia, where rights in a trademark arise from registration, not use, a trademark cannot be enforced unless it is registered. The owners of internationally famous Trademarks such as LOUIS VUITTON, YVES SAINT LAURENT and GUCCI often face serious problems with world-wide infringement of these marks. If the mark is registered […]
ASEAN Launches Patent Cooperation Programme
Countries from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have embarked on their first regional cooperation in Intellectual property, specifically in patents, by introducing ASEAN Patent Examination Co-operation (ASPEC). There are eight participating IP offices from: Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Once a search and examination report is issued by any […]
Malaysia – The Law Of Passing Off Examined In Court
The Plaintiff’s case The Plaintiff’s brought an action against the Defendants for passing off, conspiracy to pass of, conspiracy to injure the trade of the Plaintiffs, malicious falsehood and slander of goods and infringement of trade mark under the Trade Mark Act 1976. The Plaintiff’s product known as “Lady Gold” was registered under the Control […]