For quite some years now, pirated goods (mainly music, movies and fake branded goods) have been wrecking havoc on Thailand’s economy, growing from strength to strength, and stifling the organized industry. The Thai government, on its part, has been drawing a lot of flak for its failure to ensure IP protection. According to a recent […]
Malaysia - McDonald’s Loses Trade Mark Mcbattle
The Court of Appeal has unanimously upheld an appeal by McCurry Restaurant (KL), allowing McCurry to use the prefix Mc in the name of its restaurant. In this case, McDonald’s Corporation’s claim against McCurry at the High Court was premised on the fact that McCurry is liable for passing-off for using the prefix Mc in […]
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 […]
Malaysia - Foreign Use Of Trade Mark Rejected
In the case of Elba SpA v Fiamma Sdn Bhd [2008 3 MLJ, Elba, an Italian maker of cooking appliances, filed an originating motion for a declaration that it owned the Elba mark and that Malaysian company Fiamma’s Elba registration in Class 7 and 11, which had been registered for more than seven years, were […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Malaysia - Court Nullifies Trade Description Order
In Malaysia a trade mark owner as 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 […]