Malaysia jurisdiction report: No small beer in Bintang case

The defendant is a Malaysian company involved in the business of retail mini-market, warehousing and storage facilities and general trading.

The plaintiff had filed an action against the defendant for trademark infringement by importing, exporting, distributing and selling of beer bearing marks which are identical to or nearly resembling one or more of the Bintang marks which were not manufactured by or under the licence of the plaintiff. From incriminating purchases made by the plaintiff, these infringing canned beers were offered for sale in at least seven retail outlets in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya.

Injunctive orders had already been granted earlier by the court against the defendant for the disposal of the action. Subsequently in these proceedings, the plaintiff also filed a summary judgment application against the defendant.

It was found by the High Court that the plaintiff’s original beer manufactured by or under the licence of the plaintiff contains 4.7% alcohol by volume or lower. This was acknowledged and admitted by the defendant. On the other hand, its canned counterfeit Bintang beer is printed with one of the Bintang trademarks and is described as “strong cold filtered beer” with an alcohol level of 16%.