Provisions as to non-use of trade mark
40.—(1)  Subject to section 41, a registered trade mark may be taken off the register in respect of any of the goods or services in respect of which it is registered on application by any person aggrieved to the court, on the ground either —
(a)that the trade mark was registered without any bona fide intention on the part of the applicant for registration that it should be used in relation to those goods or services by him or, if it was registered under section 12(8) by the corporation or registered user concerned, and that there has in fact been no bona fide use of the trade mark in relation to those goods or services by any proprietor thereof for the time being up to the date one month before the date of the application; or
[Act 7 of 1991 wef 01/03/1991]
(b)that up to the date one month before the date of the application a continuous period of 5 years or longer had elapsed during which the trade mark was a registered trade mark and during which there was no bona fide use thereof in relation to those goods or services by any proprietor thereof for the time being:
      Provided that (except where the applicant has been permitted under section 25 to register an identical or nearly resembling trade mark in respect of the goods or services in question or where the court is of opinion that he might properly be permitted so to register such a trade mark) the court may refuse an application made under paragraph (a) or (b) in relation to any goods or services, if it is shown that there has been, before the relevant date or during the relevant period, as the case may be, bona fide use of the trade mark by any registered proprietor thereof for the time being in relation to goods or services in respect of which the trade mark is registered, being —
(i)where the application relates to goods, goods of the same description as those goods or services that are associated with those goods; or
(ii)where the application relates to services, services of the same description as those services or goods that are associated with those services.
[Act 7 of 1991 wef 01/03/1991]
(2)  Where in relation to any goods in respect of which a trade mark is registered —
(a)the matters referred to in subsection (1)(b) are shown so far as regards non-use of the trade mark in relation to goods to be sold, or otherwise traded in, in Singapore (otherwise than for export from Singapore), or in relation to goods to be exported to a particular market outside Singapore; and
(b)a person has been permitted under section 25 to register an identical or nearly resembling trade mark in respect of those goods under a registration extending to use in relation to goods to be sold, or otherwise traded in, in Singapore (otherwise than for export from Singapore), or in relation to goods to be exported to that market, or the court is of opinion that he might properly be permitted so to register such a trade mark,
on application by that person to the court, the court may impose on the registration of the first-mentioned trade mark such limitations as it thinks proper for securing that that registration shall cease to extend to such use as last aforesaid.
(2A)  Where in relation to any services in respect of which a trade mark is registered —
(a)the matters referred to in subsection (1)(b) are shown so far as regards non-use of the trade mark in relation to services for use or available for acceptance in Singapore, or for use in a country or territory outside Singapore; and
(b)a person has been permitted under section 25 to register an identical or nearly resembling trade mark in respect of those services under a registration extending to use in relation to services for use or available for acceptance in Singapore or for use in that country or territory, or the court is of the opinion that he might properly be permitted so to register such a trade mark,
on application by that person to the court, the court may impose on the registration of the first-mentioned trade mark such limitations as the court thinks proper for securing that the registration shall cease to extend to such use as last aforesaid.
[Act 7 of 1991 wef 01/03/1991]
(3)  An applicant shall not be entitled to rely for the purposes of subsection (1)(b), (2) or (2A), on any non-use of a trade mark which is shown to have been due to special circumstances in the trade and not to any intention not to use or to abandon the trade mark in relation to the goods or services to which the application relates.
[Act 7 of 1991 wef 01/03/1991]