The Legal 500

On 23 November 2011, the Competition Commission of Singapore (“CCS”) released an infringement decision against 11 modelling agencies in Singapore for breaching Section 34 of the Competition Act (Cap. 50B) (“Act”). Section 34 of the Act prohibits, amongst other things, price fixing activities.

The issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the registration of the trade mark NIKE should have been rejected on the ground that as of the registration date of the NIKE mark, there existed another identical earlier mark on the trade mark register. The appellant, Campomar SL ("Campomar"), was the proprietor of the earlier mark and had appealed against the decision of the High Court Judge, who had refused to overturn the decision of the Principal Assistant Registrar of Trade Marks ("PAR"), and allowed the trade mark NIKE to proceed to registration.

It is a common practice for companies to seek patent protection in various jurisdictions for the same invention. As each of these patent applications would need to undergo search and/or examination by the different patent offices, it is therefore not only a costly process for applicants but also one which requires significant time and effort from the patent offices to perform.

To what extent are asset-based lending structures used (e.g., revolving and term loan facilities secured by present and future accounts and inventory, with the amount of loans available at any time based on the value of such assets)?

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”) has issued a set of subsidiary legislation and regulations creating a new regulatory framework for credit rating agencies (“CRAs”).

The Health Sciences Authority (“HSA”) is holding a public consultation on its proposal to consolidate the legislative provisions regulating western medicine into a single statute. Currently, the regulatory controls are found in separate pieces of legislation, including the Medicines Act and the Poisons Act. It is proposed to transfer these provisions into the Health Products Act. 

IMPLEMENTATION OF COMPETITION LAW IN MALAYSIA Competition law in Malaysia will become a reality next year, with the Malaysia Competition Act 2010 (“Act”) due to take effect from 1 January 2012.

On 13 September 2011, the Singapore Government released a public consultation paper on the proposed introduction of a consumer Data Protection (DP) regime in Singapore.

By Venisha Lakshmi Nair

In the recent case of Mano Vikrant Singh v Cargill TSF Asia Pte Ltd [2011] SGHC 241, the High Court held that a clause in an employee incentive award plan which forfeits deferred incentive payments if the employee resigns and joins a competitor is not a restraint of trade.

By Deryne Sim

Starting from 3 January 2012, parties to trade mark opposition, invalidation and revocation proceedings before the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (“IPOS”) may resolve their disputes through mediation under the World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”) Rules, as administered by the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center in Singapore.