In June 2007, the District Court sentenced Koh Eng Kian to a total of 36 months' imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to 9 charges of abetment of copyright infringement and three charges of abetment of trade marks infringement. Another 23 charges of copyright infringement were taken into consideration.
Koh had abetted with his accomplices in a conspiracy offering to sell goods which both infringed subsisting copyrights and registered trade marks. He had set up three shops with the help of various accomplices in the sale of counterfeit products in various HDB estates.
In sentencing, the court held that the dominant consideration was deterrence. It took into account that there was a planned operation with the accomplices manning the shops and with Koh supervising in the background. Koh's illegal business operated on a large scale and included a wide diversity of products. A total of 9,008 infringing articles containing computer software and other copyright works were involved, including brands such as BMG, Microsoft, Apple Computers and Warner. The court also noted Koh's brazen disregard for the law as the shops were located in busy housing estates. As the mastermind behind a sophisticated operation, Koh had avoided detection by using his accomplices to sign the tenancy agreements for his shops. The court also found that Koh bore a higher level of culpability than his accomplices as he was the actual proprietor of the shops and had them under his control, employment and supervision.
This case highlights the court's stance in that it would not hesitate to take into account relevant factors in passing a harsher sentence for IP offenders.