European SMEs who have fallen victims to bad faith trade mark registration in Singapore and elsewhere in South-East Asia have some opportunities of getting their trade mark back without having to pay a lot of ‘ransom’ money. If the unscrupulous company who registered the trade mark in bad faith does not put the trade mark into genuine use, European SMEs could initiate a trade mark revocation process. in today’s blog post we are taking a look at the process of trade mark revocation in Singapore by analyzing an interesting case study.
Trade Mark Protection in Singapore
Registered trade marks enjoy statutory protection in Singapore under the Singapore Trade Marks Act, which also recognizes three-dimensional signs (shapes) and sounds as trade marks, however trade marks based on taste and smell are not yet recognized and not registrable in Singapore. Singapore operates under a ‘first-to-file’ system meaning that the first company to register the trade mark will own the trade mark irrespective of the first use. This means that early application for trade marks, ideally before the release of products and services into Singaporean market is recommended.
Applications for trade mark registration in Singapore can be submitted in English to the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) and the application fee is 341 SGD (228 EUR) if the application is filed online. IPOS will assess the application to ensure that all formalities are met before conducting the relevant searches and examination to ensure that the mark applied for is registrable. Once this is completed, the application will be published and, provided no oppositions are filed against the application within two months of publication, the trade mark will proceed to registration. Once registered, statutory protection for registered marks can last indefinitely, although renewal applications must be filed every ten years. Continue reading “Trade Mark Revocation in Singapore: A Case Study” »
In today’s blog post we are taking a look at the trade mark protection in Myanmar, a country that is in the process of modernizing its IP laws. Even though Myanmar has published a new Draft Trade Mark Law back in 2015, the law has still not yet come to force and in the meantime EU SMEs still need to protect their IP in Myanmar. This blog post offers some advice on how to protect your trade mark and the design of your package in Myanmar by focusing on a recent case study. 
In today’s blog post we are taking a look at the IP protection in Malaysia for the food and beverages sector. The F&B sector in Malaysia is rapidly growing, but so are counterfeiting and other IP infringements. This blog post gives some advice to European SMEs on how to build a robust IP protection strategy in Malaysia for the food and beverages sector. 
Avec l’entrée en vigueur de l’Accord de Paris, les PME européennes engagées dans les technologies vertes auront de nombreuses opportunités d’affaires dans le monde entier. Cependant, lorsqu’ils entrent dans les marchés lucratifs de la Chine ou de l’Asie du Sud-Est, les entreprises doivent accorder une attention particulière aux droits de propriété intellectuelle, car la contrefaçon et les autres formes de violation des droits de propriété intellectuelle persistent encore dans ces régions. Cet article de blogue explore la protection de la propriété intellectuelle dans l’industrie des technologies propres et a été rédigé pour nous par notre expert en propriété intellectuelle Maître Philippe Girard-Foley de GIRARD-FOLEY & Associates.
Singapore has recently finalized the review of registered designs and is ready to implement the amendments to the Registered Designs Act. These amendments are meant to bring Singapore’s design rights in line with the changing environment and improve the country’s design industry. Our external IP experts Mr. Max Ng and Ms. You Na Lee from the Gateway Law Corporation have kindly drafted for us today’s blog post, where they discuss these amendments and their implications to the European SMEs.