41.—(1) Any person may, within two months from the date of any advertisement in the Gazette of an application for registration of a trade mark, give notice (in duplicate) in writing to the Registrar on Form T.M. 11 of opposition to the registration; and the Registrar shall forthwith send the duplicate to the applicant.
(2) Any request for the first extension of time to lodge Form T.M. 11 shall be made to the Registrar within two months from the date of the advertisement in the Gazette of an application for registration of the trade mark.
(3) Any subsequent request for extensions of time to lodge Form T.M. 11 shall be made to the Registrar before the expiry of any extension of time already granted .
(4) The total extension of the period for which the Registrar may allow to lodge Form T.11. 11 shall not exceed 6 months from the date of the advertisement in the Gazette of an application for registration of the trade mark.
[Subst. by S 335/92 wef 01/08/1992]
Contents of notice
42.—(1) The notice shall contain a statement of the grounds upon which the opponent objects to the registration.
(2) If registration is opposed on the ground that the mark resembles another mark already on the register or the registration of which is the subject of a current application, the number and class of that other mark and (except in the case of a mark the subject of an application not yet advertised) the number of the Gazette in which it has been advertised shall be set out in the notice.
Counter-statement
43. Within two months from the date of the Registrar’s letter forwarding the duplicate notice of opposition provided in rule 41, the applicant shall file with the Registrar a statement on Form T.M. 12 setting out the grounds on which he relies as supporting his application. The applicant shall also set out what facts, if any, alleged in the notice of opposition he admits. The counter-statement shall be accompanied by a duplicate.
Evidence in support of opposition
44. Upon receipt of the counter-statement and duplicate provided in rule 43, the Registrar shall forthwith send the duplicate to the opponent and within two months from the date of the Registrar’s letter forwarding the duplicate, the opponent shall file with the Registrar such evidence by way of statutory declaration as he may desire to adduce in support of his opposition and shall, at the same time, send to the applicant a copy of that evidence.
Evidence in support of application
45.—(1) If the opponent files no evidence in accordance with rule 44, he shall, unless the Registrar otherwise directs, be deemed to have abandoned his opposition.
(2) If he does file evidence then, within two months from the date of receipt of the copy of evidence provided for in rule 44, the applicant shall file such evidence by way of statutory declaration as he desires to adduce in support of his application and shall, at the same time, send to the opponent a copy of that evidence.
(3) If the applicant files no evidence in accordance with paragraph (2), he shall, unless the Registrar otherwise directs, be deemed to have abandoned his application.
Evidence in reply by opponent
46.—(1) Within two months from the date of receipt by the opponent of the copy of the applicant’ s evidence provided for in rule 45, the opponent may file with the Registrar evidence in reply by way of statutory declaration and shall, at the same time, send to the applicant a copy of that evidence.
(2) Evidence in reply shall be confined to matters strictly in reply to the applicant’ s evidence.
Further evidence
47. No further evidence shall be filed on either side, but in any proceedings before the Registrar, he may at any time, if he thinks fit, give leave to either the applicant or the opponent to file any evidence upon such terms as to costs or otherwise as he may think fit.
Exhibits
48.—(1) Where there are exhibits to declarations filed in an opposition, a copy or impression of each exhibit shall be sent to the other party on his request and at his expense or, if such copy or impression cannot conveniently be furnished, the originals shall be left with the Registrar in order that they may be open to inspection.
(2) The original exhibits shall be produced at the hearing unless the Registrar otherwise directs.
Opposition hearing
49.—(1) Upon completion of the evidence, the Registrar shall give notice to the parties of a date when he will hear the arguments in the case.
(2) Any party who intends to appear shall so notify the Registrar on Form T.M. 13 before the hearing.
(3) Any party who does not so notify the Registrar on Form T.M. 13 before the hearing may be treated as not desiring to be heard, and the Registrar may proceed with the hearing in the absence of that party, or may without proceeding with the hearing give his decision or dismiss the proceedings, or make any other order as he thinks fit.
(4) If subsequent to notifying the Registrar on Form T.M. 13 a party does not appear at the hearing, the Registrar may proceed with the hearing in the absence of that party, or may without proceeding with the hearing give his decision or dismiss the proceedings, or make any other order as he thinks fit.
(5) If, at the hearing, neither party appears, the proceedings may be struck out of the list without prejudice, however, to the restoration thereof, on the direction of the Registrar.
(6) Any decision obtained where any party does not appear at the hearing may be set aside by the Registrar on the application of that party on such terms as he thinks fit.
(7) An application under this rule for the restoration of any proceedings or the setting aside of any decision made pursuant to paragraph (S) or (6) shall be made within 7 days after the proceedings have been struck out of the list or after the hearing, as the case may be.
[Subst. by S 335/92 wef 01/08/1992]
Registrar’s decision in opposition proceedings
50. The Registrar shall forward a copy of his decision and grounds thereof to each of the parties to the opposition within 3 months of the hearing.
Extension of time
51. Where in opposition proceedings any extension of time is granted to any party, the Registrar may thereafter, if he thinks fit, without giving the party a hearing, grant any reasonable extension of time to the other party in which to take any subsequent step.
Security for costs
52. Where a party filing notice of opposition under rule 41 or a counter-statement under rule 43 neither resides nor carries on business in Singapore, the Registrar may require him to give security, in such form as the Registrar may think sufficient, for the costs of the proceedings before the Registrar for such amount as the Registrar may consider fit, and at any stage in the opposition proceedings may require further security to be given at any time before giving his decision in the case.
Costs in uncontested cases
53. Where an opposition is uncontested by the applicant, the Registrar in deciding whether costs should be awarded to the opponent shall consider whether proceedings might have been avoided if reasonable notice had been given by the opponent to the applicant before the notice of opposition was lodged.
Opposition to certification trade mark
54.—(1) Within two months from the date of any advertisement in the Gazette of an application for the registration of a certification trade mark, any person may give notice to the Registrar on Form T.M. 11 of opposition under section 68(11) of the Act, and rules 41 to 53 shall apply to the proceedings thereon.
(2) Any person may give notice to the Registrar on Form T.M. 14 of opposition under section 68(12) of the Act, and rules 41 to 53 shall apply with such modifications as may be required to suit the circumstances.
(3) For the purposes of this rule, Form T.M. 12 shall be substituted with Form T.M. 15 and Form T.M. 13 shall be substituted with Form T.M. 16.
(4) In case of doubt, any party may apply to the Registrar for directions.