The Court of Appeal confirmed on November 14, 2012 that a trademark affixed on imported goods that are distributed by a local distributor who merely acted as conduit belongs to the foreign trader.
The Court of Appeal confirmed on November 14, 2012 that a trademark affixed on imported goods that are distributed by a local distributor who merely acted as conduit belongs to the foreign trader.
The appellant, a foreign company based in the US, started distributing and selling sports-related supports, protectors and braces with the trademark ‘LP’ in Malaysia in 1991 through its former local distributor, the respondent. All the appellant’s products with the ‘LP’ trademark are imported into Malaysia directly from its appointed manufacturer in Taiwan and were sold and distributed by the respondent without any alteration or improvement.
The respondent had in 1992 filed a trademark application for the ‘LP’ mark under Class 28 without the consent or authorisation of the appellant. When the trademark application was subsequently accepted and advertised in the Government Gazette, the appellant filed an opposition against the registration of the respondent’s application on the ground that, among others, the respondent is not the lawful proprietor of the ‘LP’ trademark.
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licensing, Malaysia, trademark, High Court, LP
