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?

• Main Author: LLEWELYN, Gordon Ionwy David
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2016
• Subjects: Law
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/1613; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sol_research/article/3565/viewcontent/P_ID_53222_2016_28SAcLJMarch61_88_IPStatutoryDamages_DLlewelyn.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

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.