Description

In the past decades, the type of signs that can be registered as marks has grown exponentially. Today, non-traditional marks – that is, signs that comprise of shapes, colors, sounds, smells, and tastes – have found their way into many trademark registers worldwide. Hence, the protection of these signs creates a wide variety of issues – ranging from legal-doctrinal to competition-based and cultural concerns. The book that is at the center of this panel presentation addresses several of these issues. In particular, it maps how this expansion of trademark protection can affect other types of intellectual property rights and the intellectual property system as a whole. Trademark offices and courts across the world have increasingly encountered these issues as well, and the results were different, which highlights the importance of a comparative analysis of existing approaches to non-traditional marks. Providing a comprehensive overview of the status quo in different jurisdictions, the book discussed by this panel offers the first comprehensive discussion of the legal problems and solutions in this field. The analysis, however, goes far beyond specific questions of trademark law and practice, and expands in the broader context of fundamental rights, in particular freedom of competition and freedom of expression.

About The Chairperson & Speakers

Professor David Tan (Chairperson)

David Tan holds a PhD from Melbourne Law School, a LLM from Harvard, and graduated with a LLB (First Class Honours)/BCom from the University of Melbourne. He has taught courses at Melbourne Law School (Intellectual Property & Popular Culture; Constitutional Law) and University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Law (Entertainment Law). David was formerly with the Singapore Administrative Service, serving as Director of Sports at Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports (MCYS) and Director of International Talent at Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

In the area of law, he has published in a diverse range of journals such as the Harvard Journal of Sports & Entertainment Law, Yale Journal of International Law, Sydney Law Review, Law Quarterly Review, Law and Literature, WIPO Journal, Media & Arts Law Review, Singapore Journal of Legal Studies, Torts Law Journal and Australian Intellectual Property Journal. His monograph “The Commercial Appropriation of Fame: A Cultural Analysis of the Right of Publicity & Passing Off” on celebrity personality rights was published by Cambridge University Press in 2017.

Professor Ng-Loy Wee Loon (Speaker)

Ng-Loy Wee Loon is a Professor of Law at NUS. Her main research interests lie in the field of Intellectual Property (IP) Law. She was appointed honorary senior counsel in 2017. Amongst her sterling academic publications is the text on Law of Intellectual Property of Singapore (2nd ed, 2014). Outside of the university, her involvement in the Iegal landscape of Singapore includes the following: a member of the Resource Panel for Government Parliamentary Committee for Law and Home Affairs (1999-2000); a member of the Board of Directors of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (2000-2001); a member of the Board of Governors of the IP Academy (2007-2011); a member of Singapore’s Copyright Tribunal (since 2009); a member of the Singapore Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy Panel (since 2014); IP Adjudicator with the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (since 2014).

Professor Irene Calboli (Speaker)

Irene Calboli is a Professor at Texas A&M University School of Law. She has been a visiting professor and scholar in academic institutions worldwide, including the National University of Singapore, Bocconi University, Hanken School of Economics, King’s College London, the University of Strasburg, the University of California at Berkeley, Tongji University, the University of Queensland, and the Max-Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition. Irene is a prolific scholar and the author and editor of several books, articles, and book chapters. Her current publications focus on overlapping intellectual property protection, trademarks and geographical indications of origin, and the intersection between intellectual property and international trade. She is the co-editor of “The Protection of Non-Traditional Trademarks: Critical Perspectives” published by Oxford University Press.

Professor Susanna Leong (Speaker)

Susanna Leong is Vice Provost (Lifelong Education) at the National University of Singapore (NUS). She is responsible for initiatives and programmes on continuous education and training in NUS. Prior to her current appointment, Susanna was the Vice-Dean, Graduate Studies Office, NUS Business School from 2008 to 2016, and had oversight of the NUS MBA, EMBA and MPAM programmes. Susanna’s research interests are in intellectual property and technology-related laws, and is the author of “Intellectual Property Law of Singapore” published as part of the Law Practice Series by Academy Publishing. Susanna’s legal writings have been cited and referred to by the Singapore Court of Appeal and the High Court in their judgments.

Ms Constance Lee (Speaker)

Constance is Principal Trade Mark Examiner with the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) where she examines national trade mark applications as well as those filed under the Madrid Protocol, an international registration system for trade marks. She also has experience in trade mark prosecution work from her one year stint as Trade Marks Manager with a local company that sells multimedia products.