Statutory Damages for Use of a "Counterfeit Trade Mark" and for Copyright Infringement in Singapore: A Radical Remedy in the Law of Intellectual Property or One in Need of a Rethink?

Author

Gordon Ionwy David LLEWELYN, Singapore Management UniversityFollow

Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

3-2016

Abstract

The difficulty in (trade mark) counterfeiting and (copyright) piracy cases of assessing damages on traditional tortious principles led to the introduction into Singapore law of the statutory damages remedy in 2004, following the US–Singapore Free Trade Agreement. The new remedy does not require the successful plaintiff to prove its loss in the standard way and allows the court to take into account both the behaviour of the defendant and the need to deter such activities when making awards. Despite the radical nature of the remedy, which was generally welcomed by rights-owners at the time of its introduction more than a decade ago, it does not seem to have been used as frequently as may have been expected, to judge from the dearth of reported decisions in both the State Courts and the High Court. This article considers the remedy and how it might be amended or extended.

Discipline

Intellectual Property Law

Publication

Singapore Academy of Law Journal

Volume

28

First Page

61

Last Page

88

ISSN

0218-2009

Publisher

Singapore Academy of Law

Citation

LLEWELYN, Gordon Ionwy David. Statutory Damages for Use of a "Counterfeit Trade Mark" and for Copyright Infringement in Singapore: A Radical Remedy in the Law of Intellectual Property or One in Need of a Rethink?. (2016). Singapore Academy of Law Journal. 28, 61-88.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/2119

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