The court battle between the "Lam Soon brothers", Whang Tar Liang and Whang Tar Choung, has resumed - this time, over who owns the trademarks used by various companies in the Lam Soon group, including such household brand names as "Knife" and "Axe".

In March last year, Tar Liang had sought to wind up Lam Soon Cannery, the holding company for the Lam Soon group. His case was that his position as minority shareholder was under threat because his brother was handing over control of the business to Hap Seng, which Tar Liang labelled a "complete stranger" to the 70-year-old Lam Soon family business. The feud was however settled out of court and Tar Liang agreed to buy out his elder brother and his brother’s family who together had a majority stake in Lam Soon Cannery.

To add a twist to the tale, the local press recently reported that Lam Soon Oil and Soap Manufacturing Sdn Bhd and Lam Soon (M) Bhd, both controlled by Tar Liang, are now suing Tar Choung for breach of an undertaking in their settlement of an earlier dispute last November, by transferring various trademarks valued at about $30 million to Forward Supreme Sdn Bhd for one Ringgit. Forward Supreme is controlled by Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd, a listed Malaysian oil-palm plantation group.

Tar Liang’s present case is that Tar Choung has breached an earlier undertaking to the court not to transfer the trademarks owned by Lam Soon Oil and Soap Manufacturing Sdn Bhd and Lam Soon (M) Bhd.

Recently, Tar Choung and Forward Supreme applied to the Singapore High Court to have the trademarks dispute heard in a Malaysian court as it would be a more appropriate forum since the trademarks were registered there. However, Tar Liang's two companies have countered that it should be heard in Singapore, because the witnesses for both parties, which includes the 10 lawyers involved in the negotiations for the November settlement, are in Singapore. On March 15, Justice G.P. Selvam dismissed the application to transfer the case to Malaysia. It is expected to go to trial later this year.

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