The Trade Marks (Amendment) Bill 2006 was introduced and read for the first time in Parliament on 8 November 2006. The Trade Marks Act (TMA) will be amended once the Bill is passed by Parliament. Briefly, the proposed amendments to the TMA are as follows:
- To provide for an application for registration of a trade mark to be divided into two or more separate applications for registration of the trade mark, so as to enable Singapore to give effect to Article 7 of the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks (New section 5A).
- To enable a person to make a single application for registration of a series of trade marks in relation to goods or services belonging to two or more different classes (Amendment to section 17(1)).
- To provide for the grant of a licence under an application for registration of a trade mark to be a registrable transaction under section 41.
- To provide for the making of certain rules for the purposes of section 41.
- To remove the mandatory requirement for the Minister to consult the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore before he makes any rules under the empowering provision, section 108.
These amendments are in line with the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks, which was introduced during the Diplomatic Conference for the Adoption of a Revised Trademark Law Treaty held in March 2006. The Treaty, which will benefit both the national and regional trade mark administration authorities, is intended to simplify and streamline procedures as well as reduce transaction costs associated with trade mark applications.
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.
