PART 6 | Counterfeiting a trade mark |
46.—(1) Any person who counterfeits a registered trade mark shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both.(2) A person who —| (a) | makes a sign identical to or so nearly resembling a registered trade mark as to be calculated to deceive; or | | (b) | falsifies a genuine registered trade mark, whether by alteration, addition, effacement, partial removal or otherwise, |
| without the consent of the proprietor of the registered trade mark is deemed to counterfeit a registered trade mark. |
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| (3) In a prosecution under this section, the burden of proving the consent of the proprietor lies on the accused. |
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| Falsely applying a registered trade mark to goods or services |
47.—(1) Any person who falsely applies a registered trade mark to goods or services shall, unless the person proves that the person acted innocently, be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both.(2) For the purposes of this section and sections 49, 53 and 53A, a person falsely applies a registered trade mark to goods or services if —| (a) | without the consent of the proprietor of the registered trade mark, the person applies the trade mark or a sign likely to be mistaken for that trade mark to the goods or services; and | | (b) | in the case of an application to goods, the goods are not the genuine goods of the proprietor or licensee of the registered trade mark. |
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(3) For the purposes of subsection (2), a trade mark is deemed to be applied to goods or services if it is used in —| (a) | any sign or advertisement; or | | (b) | any invoice, wine list, catalogue, business letter, business paper, price list or other commercial document, including any such document in any medium, |
| and the goods are delivered, or services provided (as the case may be) to a person pursuant to a request or order made by reference to the trade mark as so used. |
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(4) For the purposes of subsection (2) —| (a) | a sign is deemed to be applied to goods if —| (i) | it is applied to the goods themselves; or | | (ii) | it is applied to any covering, label, reel or thing in or with which the goods are sold, offered or exposed for sale or had in possession for a purpose of trade or manufacture; and |
| | (b) | a sign is deemed to be applied to goods or services if it is used in a manner that is likely to lead persons to believe that it refers to, describes or designates the goods or services. |
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(5) In subsection (4) —| “covering” includes any stopper, glass, bottle, vessel, box, capsule, case, frame or wrapper; |
| “label” includes any band or ticket. |
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| (6) In a prosecution under this section or section 49, the burden of proving the consent of the proprietor lies on the accused. |
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| Making or possessing of article for committing offence |
48. Any person who —| (a) | makes an article specifically designed or adapted for making copies of a registered trade mark or a sign likely to be mistaken for that trade mark; or | | (b) | has such an article in the person’s possession, custody or control, |
| knowing or having reason to believe that it has been, or is to be, used for, or in the course of, committing an offence against section 46 or 47, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both. |
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| Importing or selling, etc., goods with falsely applied trade mark |
49. Any person who —| (a) | imports into Singapore for the purpose of trade or manufacture; | | (b) | sells or offers or exposes for sale; or | | (c) | has in the person’s possession for the purpose of trade or manufacture, |
| any goods to which a registered trade mark is falsely applied shall, unless the person proves that — |
| (d) | having taken all reasonable precautions against committing an offence under this section, the person had, at the time of the commission of the alleged offence, no reason to suspect the genuineness of the mark and on demand made by or on behalf of the prosecution, the person gave all the information in the person’s power with respect to the persons from whom the person obtained the goods; or | | (e) | the person had acted innocently, |
| be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 for each goods or thing to which the trade mark is falsely applied (but not exceeding in the aggregate $100,000) or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both. |
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| Falsification of register, etc. |
50. Any person who —| (a) | makes, or causes to be made, a false entry in the register; | | (b) | makes, or causes to be made, any thing false purporting to be a copy of an entry in the register; or | | (c) | produces or tenders or causes to be produced or tendered in evidence any thing mentioned in paragraph (b), |
| knowing or having reason to believe that the entry or thing (as the case may be) is false shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both. |
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| Falsely representing trade mark as registered |
51.—(1) Any person who —| (a) | falsely represents that a mark is a registered trade mark; or | | (b) | makes a false representation as to the goods or services for which a trade mark is registered, |
| knowing or having reason to believe that the representation is false shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000. |
(2) For the purposes of this section, the use in the course of trade in Singapore in relation to a trade mark of —| (a) | the word “registered”; or | | (b) | any other word or symbol importing a reference (express or implied) to registration, |
| is deemed to be a representation as to registration under this Act unless it is shown that the reference is to registration elsewhere than in Singapore and that the trade mark is in fact so registered for the goods or services in question. |
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| Representation on trade marks of Arms or Flags prohibited, etc. |
52.—(1) Any person who causes or permits to appear on a trade mark used by the person for the purposes of the person’s trade any representation of the Arms or the Flag of Singapore, or of any arms or devices likely to be mistaken for them, shall, unless such trade mark is authorised to be used by order of the President, be guilty of an offence.(2) Any person who —| (a) | imports into Singapore for the purpose of trade or manufacture; | | (b) | sells or offers or exposes for sale; or | | (c) | has in the person’s possession for the purpose of trade or manufacture, |
| any goods or things to which a trade mark bearing any representation prohibited by subsection (1) is applied shall be guilty of an offence. |
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| (3) Any person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) or (2) shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both, and shall forfeit to the Government any goods or things to which the trade mark bearing the prohibited representation is applied. |
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| Forfeiture and destruction of goods, etc., on conviction |
53.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), where any person has been convicted of an offence under any provision of this Part, the court may, where it considers appropriate, order the person to forfeit to the Government all or any —| (a) | goods in relation to which; or | | (b) | articles by means of which, |
| the offence was committed. |
(2) Where any person has been convicted of an offence under section 47 or 49 in relation to a registered trade mark, the court is, unless it is of the view that there are exceptional circumstances for deciding otherwise, to order to be forfeited to the Government and destroyed any goods which satisfy all of the following conditions:| (a) | the goods are goods in relation to which —| (i) | the offence was committed; and | | (ii) | the trade mark has been falsely applied; |
| | (b) | the goods or their packaging bear the trade mark or sign giving rise to the false application of the trade mark. |
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(3) Any —| (a) | forfeiture of goods or articles under subsection (1); or | | (b) | forfeiture and destruction of goods under subsection (2), |
| is in addition to any penalty or punishment that the court may impose for the offence committed. |
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53A.—(1) Any police officer may arrest without warrant any person who, in any street or public place —| (a) | sells or offers or exposes for sale; or | | (b) | has, or is reasonably suspected of having, in the person’s possession for the purpose of trade or manufacture, |
| any goods to which a registered trade mark is falsely applied. |
(2) Any authorised officer may, without a warrant issued under subsection (3) —| (a) | stop, search and board, whether forcibly or otherwise, any conveyance in which the authorised officer reasonably suspects there are goods to which a registered trade mark has been falsely applied; and | | (b) | seize, remove or detain any such goods and anything which appears to the authorised officer —| (i) | to be or to contain; or | | (ii) | to be likely to be or to contain, |
| evidence of any offence under section 46, 47, 48, 49 or 52. |
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(3) If information is given upon oath to a court that there is reasonable cause for suspecting that there is in any premises or conveyance —| (a) | any goods which are the subject of an offence under section 46, 47, 48, 49 or 52; | | (b) | any material or article which has been used in the commission of an offence under section 46, 47, 48, 49 or 52; or | | (c) | any document which is evidence that an offence under section 46, 47, 48, 49 or 52 has been committed, |
| the court may issue, either unconditionally or subject to such conditions as the court thinks fit, a warrant authorising a police officer to enter and search the premises or conveyance for any goods, material, article or document referred to in the warrant, whether specifically or in any general category, and to seize any such goods, material, article or document found at the premises or conveyance. |
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(4) If any goods, material, article or document has been seized under subsection (3) and —| (a) | in proceedings brought under section 46, 47, 48, 49 or 52, no order is made —| (i) | as to the disposal of the goods, material, article or document; or | | (ii) | in the case of any goods or article mentioned in section 53, under section 53(1) or (2); or |
| | (b) | no such proceedings are instituted within 6 months of the seizure, |
| the goods, material, article or document must be returned to the person in whose possession it was when it was seized or, if it is not reasonably practicable to return it to that person, must be disposed of in accordance with the law regulating the disposal of lost or unclaimed property in the hands of police authorities. |
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| (5) No action or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Government or any officer or employee thereof for anything which is in good faith done or omitted to be done in the exercise of any power, duty or function under this section. |
(6) In this section —“authorised officer” means —| (a) | a police officer; | | (b) | an officer of customs as defined in the Customs Act 1960; | | (c) | an immigration officer as defined in the Immigration Act 1959; or | | (d) | any officer or class or description of officers appointed by the Minister by notification in the Gazette to exercise the powers and perform the duties conferred and imposed on an authorised officer by this section; |
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| “conveyance” includes any vehicle, vessel, train or aircraft in which persons or goods can be carried; |
| “document” means anything in which information of any description is recorded; |
| “premises” includes any land, building or structure. |
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