Description

A crucial preliminary legal question in most trade mark disputes is whether the allegedly conflicting marks are similar or dissimilar. The Singapore caselaw since the Court of Appeals decision in Staywell has muddied the waters, and muddled the discourse, on the interaction between the core trade mark law principles of distinctiveness and the marks-similarity assessment. This seminar offers an academic-adjudicator’s view of how trade mark law should develop in light of the undesirable and far-reaching consequences of the Singapore High Court’s preference for the “mechanical approach” (which excludes evidence of acquired technical distinctiveness at the initial stage of determining marks-similarity) over the more inclusive “contextual” approach.

PROGRAMME

3.00PM     Presentation by Associate Professor Burton Ong

4.30PM     Q&A

4.45PM     End of event

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Dr Burton Ong is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore, where he is Director of Research (Competition Law) at the EW Barker Centre for Law and Business. He teaches and researches in the areas of Competition Law, Intellectual Property and Contract Law. He is General Editor of the International Copyright Law and Practice treatise. He has served as an IP Adjudicator for the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore since 2018.