Building Contractors In Patent Infringment Battle
A building contractor who asserted that it merely constructed buildings for the Malaysian Government according to technical drawings provided by JKR (the Public Works Department representing the Government of Malaysia) was held by the High Court to have: infringed Malaysian Patent No. MY114346-A granted to O-Stable Sdn Bhd (the patentee and the 1st Plaintiff) infringed the copyright […]
India Raises The Bar On Patentability Of Pharmaceuticals
In the much awaited decision of the Supreme Court of India in the case of Novartis AG vs. Union of India and others, the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the Indian Patent Office which refused to grant a patent on the beta crystalline form of the imatinib mesylatechemical compound, a therapeutic drug for chronic myeloid […]
Ever Thought Of A Franchise As A Marriage?
In a very interesting piece published in The Star newspaper recently, the chairman of the Malaysian Franchise Association (MFA), Abdul Malik Abdullah, who is also the owner of D’Tandoor Food Industries Sdn Bhd, expressed that “the relationship between a franchisor and franchisee is just like a marriage, at the early stage it could all be rosy and beautiful.” […]
“Handicapped” Protection For Descriptive Marks
The Singapore Court of Appeal (CA) was recently asked to decide on whether a descriptive mark could be protected against passing off if the descriptive elements of the mark were used by another party. The case was an appeal by the Singapore Professional Golfers’ Association (SPGA) against the decision of the High Court which found […]
Longer Protection but Constricted Remedial Relief For an Industrial Design In Malaysia!
The Malaysian Industrial Designs Act 1996 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) has recently been amended to incorporate several changes to improve the protection of Industrial Designs in Malaysia. There have been three significant changes made to the Act: Registrability of an Industrial Design in Malaysia An Industrial Design may be registered only if it […]
Amendments To Diovan Patent Claims Allowed
A recent decision in the High Court of Singapore involved yet another dispute in the pharmaceutical industry between an innovator giant and a generic manufacturer. This time, the case refers to a patent litigation battle between Switzerland-based Novartis and its exclusive licensee in Singapore (the Plaintiffs), and Ranbaxy (M) Sdn Bhd (the Defendant). On the […]
Crocodile Scramble in Court
Successful brands will undoubtedly inspire certain parties to take advantage of them, whether it is against the law or not. Companies who have created successful brands tend to be optimistic with regard to their sales, they expect it to climb steadily to consistently reach the company’s goals. They might achieve this by pushing their marketing […]
IP In Budget 2013
Recognising that an increased level of knowledge, creativity and innovation will drive the growth of the country into a high-income and developed nation, the Malaysian government has been big on innovation for the last few years – but what are the latest plans to spur on its progress, especially when financing (or lack thereof) still […]
Exciting News On Matrade’s Market Development Grant
By KASS International The new guidelines of MATRADE’s Market Development Grant (MDG), effective since 1st July 2012, have given SMEs a reason to rejoice! In case you were not aware, the MDG is a predetermined grant where the reimbursed value is based on location and types of export promotion activities. Key Takeaways Cooperatives are now […]
“Regis”-trable For More Than One Party After All!
Slightly more than a year from the Opposition proceeding in the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, it seems that the trademark ownership battle between American hotel giants Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (“Starwood”), owner of the “ST. REGIS” trademark, and their Australian adversary Staywell Hospitality Group Pty Ltd (“Staywell”), proprietor of the “” mark, continued to […]