Infringement and Enforcement
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Infringement occurs when a registered trade mark is used in the course of trade without the consent of the trade mark owner.
An infringement may come about through the use of :
- an identical mark on identical goods or services; or
- an identical mark on similar goods or services, or a similar mark on identical/similar goods or services resulting in confusion on the part of the public.
The use of a sign similar to a registered trade mark which is well known in Singapore on goods or services that are dissimilar to the registered well known mark may also constitute an infringement if there exists a likelihood of confusion, an indication of connection, and possible damage to the interests of the owner.
Once an infringement of a registered trade mark is established, the owner can enforce his rights as conferred by the Trade Marks Act. He can take legal action against the infringing party by seeking relief in the form of an injunction and either demanding for the profits gained by the infringing party at his expense or seeking damages for the loss suffered.
When awarding damages, the Court may also award on account of profits attributable to the infringement that have not been taken into account in computing the damages.
In an infringement action involving the use of a counterfeit trade mark in relation to goods or services, the owner of the registered trade mark has an additional alternative remedy of statutory damages.
>> A counterfeit trade mark is any sign that is identical with or so similar to the registered trade mark as to be calculated to deceive and is applied to goods or services without the consent of the owner to falsely represent the goods or services to be the genuine goods or services of the owner of the registered trade mark.
It is a criminal offence to falsely represent a trade mark as registered when it is not registered or if it is pending registration, or make a false representation as to the goods or services for which a trade mark is registered.
The Internet has become an important marketing channel and trading platform for products and services in recent years. As marketers continue to exploit their registered trade marks on the Internet, domain names have inevitably become part of their invaluable brand assets.
In practice, domain names are registered on a first-come-first-served basis. If a trade mark has the potential of becoming valuable, the unscrupulous may decide to register the domain name using the trade mark name and later offer it to the trade mark owner in exchange for a huge sum of money. To avoid being victims of these so-called 'cybersquatters', a registered trade mark owner should register his domain name before anyone else does.
>> A domain name is an electronic address that identifies a location on the Internet, somewhat like street names in cities, e.g. the domain name of Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (acronym IPOS) is www.ipos.gov.sg.
In Singapore, local domain names (those with the extension ".sg") are assigned by the Registrars accredited by the Singapore Network Information Centre (SGNIC) www.nic.net.sg. On request and upon payment of a fee, the Registrar will assign your company a domain name. As the registration is administered on a first-come-first-served basis, it may be possible that someone else would have registered the domain name before you. |
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