[Malaysia SME] Check It Before You Wreck It!
Common Law Proprietorship: Is Evidence Territorially Restricted?
By Amir Murshidi The established principle of trademarks is that the protection is territorial in nature. Does that mean without a registration, trademark owners do not have rights in a particular country? Yes and no – yes in countries that adopt the “first-to-file” rule while in common law jurisdictions (Malaysia included), owners who use the […]
Caught with Their Pants Down: Mohammad Hafiz bin Hamidun v Kamdar Sdn. Bhd.
What grounds, if any, do famous personalities have to prevent their name from being used by others under the guise of false endorsements or association? Here’s the story of what singer and song composer, “Hafiz Hamidun” (the Plaintiff), did. Apart from his musical pursuits, the Plaintiff had also incorporated a company selling clothes including Baju […]
Patenting Biotechnology Inventions
By P. Kandiah & Sharrmila Palanyandy In recent years, research and development in biotechnology field, especially in medicine and agricultural biotechnology is emerging rapidly. Researchers are encouraged to patent their inventions in order to commercialise their inventions and enjoy the benefits obtained thereafter. Mostly, biotechnology inventions are associated with materials present in nature which require […]
[MGCC Perspectives] The Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious FAIR
No Noodling About: Hakubaku Co. Ltd. v Asiamega Food Manufacturers Sdn. Bhd.
This recent case provides food for thought by enforcing once again that the first user of a trademark in good faith in Malaysia is the rightful common law owner of the mark. Attempts to noodle around with the core principles of trademark and copyright law do not mix well with the Courts’ stand to uphold […]
Malaysia! Merdeka! Eureka!
By Joel Cheong August is the month when proud Malaysians display their patriotic spirit by flying the Malaysian flag. As people who did not fail their History paper would know, the Malayan Federation achieved its independence on 31 August 1957, and on 16 September 1963, Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore formed the Federation of Malaysia. […]
Local to Global: FEAR of the Unknown
By Geetha Kandiah Venturing abroad takes courage. But in this day and age, it is a necessity for businesses to expand their market reach. Businesses in Singapore, for example, do not just stay in Singapore! In 2018, Singapore exported US$ 411.7 billion around the world, with the top export being electronic equipment. Businesses can’t keep […]
[The Petri Dish] Check it before you wreck it!
When you need to sprint to the Trademark Office: Trade protection around the globe
By Daniella Fiocco What’s in a name? “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” – William Shakespeare ———————————————– William Shakespeare may have been a brilliant poet, but he was no intellectual property expert; if he were he would have known that a name, and […]