Being a household name in Singapore has paid off for Chilli brand rice vermicelli when recently a woman and her neighbour blew the whistle on a supermarket that was passing off packets of vermicelli as Chilli brand bee hoon days before Chinese New year.
People Bee Hoon Factory which owns the brand then spent $31,000 on newspaper advertisements in its search for the woman and her friend with an offer of an S$8000 reward for calling them to report on the fakes.
The owners of Chilli brand bee hoon who had registered their trade mark in 1973, claimed that it has taken them 20 to 30 years to build up this brand and they were not going to stand by and see it tarnish in just a few days. To them, it was worth spending their money on the advertisement to seek and reward their loyal constomers. In their advertisement People Bee Hoon Factory cautioned consumers that the term "Chilli brand" appears on all of their bee hoon packets.
The supermarket has since ceased selling the fakes upon hearing from People Bee Hoon’s lawyers but it has not been revealed if the owners will take any further action against them.
The content of this article does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied on in that way. Specific advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
