Global Tobacco v Jamal: Trade Mark Invalidity for Cigarette Products

Global Tobacco Manufacturers (International) Sdn Bhd appealed against the High Court's decision to invalidate their registered trademark, 'Manchester', due to its similarity to Jamal Abdulnaser Mahmoud Al Mahamid's earlier registered trademark for Class 34 goods (cigarettes). The Court of Appeal, comprising Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, Justice of Appeal Chao Hick Tin, and Justice Tay Yong Kwang, dismissed the appeal, finding a high degree of similarity between the marks and a likelihood of confusion, thus upholding the invalidation under the Trade Marks Act.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

Court of Appeal

1.2 Outcome

Appeal Dismissed

1.3 Case Type

Intellectual Property

1.4 Judgment Type

Grounds of Decision

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Global Tobacco's appeal was dismissed, upholding the invalidation of its 'Manchester' mark due to similarity with Jamal's registered mark for cigarettes.

1.7 Decision Date

28 September 2015

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
Global Tobacco Manufacturers (International) Sdn Bhd	Appellant	Corporation	Appeal Dismissed	Lost	Lai Tze Chang Stanley of Allen & Gledhill LLP Goh En-Ci Gloria of Allen & Gledhill LLP Clara Tung Yi Lin of Allen & Gledhill LLP
Jamal Abdulnaser Mahmoud Al Mahamid	Respondent	Individual	Appeal Dismissed	Won	Foo Maw Jiun of Rodyk & Davidson LLP Quek Jie Ying of Rodyk & Davidson LLP Yew Woon Chooi of Rodyk & Davidson LLP

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Sundaresh Menon	Chief Justice	Yes
Chao Hick Tin	Justice of the Court of Appeal	No
Tay Yong Kwang	Judge	No

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Lai Tze Chang Stanley	Allen & Gledhill LLP
Goh En-Ci Gloria	Allen & Gledhill LLP
Clara Tung Yi Lin	Allen & Gledhill LLP
Foo Maw Jiun	Rodyk & Davidson LLP
Quek Jie Ying	Rodyk & Davidson LLP
Yew Woon Chooi	Rodyk & Davidson LLP

4. Facts

The Appellant was the registered proprietor of a trademark.
The Respondent was the registered proprietor of a similar trademark.
Both marks were registered in respect of Class 34 goods and services (cigarettes and related products).
The Respondent’s Mark was registered first.
The application for registration of the Appellant’s Mark was filed later.
The Respondent brought an action to invalidate the registration of the Appellant’s Mark.
The Judge found that the Appellant’s Mark was in breach of s 8(2)(b) of the Trade Marks Act.

5. Formal Citations

Global Tobacco Manufacturers (International) Sdn Bhd v Jamal Abdulnaser Mahmoud Al Mahamid, Civil Appeal No 51 of 2015, [2015] SGCA 51
Global Tobacco Manufacturers (International) Sdn Bhd v Jamal Abdulnaser Mahmoud Al Mahamid, , [2015] SGHC 42

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2005-06-07	Respondent’s Mark registered
2012-06-08	Application for registration of the Appellant’s Mark filed
2012-09-14	Appellant advertised its application for registration
2012-11-29	Appellant’s Mark registered
2015-09-29	Appeal Dismissed

7. Legal Issues

Trade Mark Infringement
- Outcome: The court found a sufficient likelihood of confusion due to the high degree of similarity between the marks and the identical nature of the goods, leading to the dismissal of the appeal.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Likelihood of confusion
  - Similarity of marks
  - Similarity of goods

8. Remedies Sought

Invalidation of Trade Mark

9. Cause of Actions

Trade Mark Invalidity

10. Practice Areas

Intellectual Property Litigation
Trade Mark Infringement
Trade Mark Invalidity

11. Industries

Tobacco

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Hai Tong Co (Pte) Ltd v Ventree Singapore Pte Ltd and another	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2013] 2 SLR 941	Singapore	Cited for the principle that evidence of actual confusion is not a necessary element of a trademark infringement cause of action.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
Trade Marks Act (Cap 332, 2005 Rev Ed)	Singapore
Trade Marks Act (Cap 332, 2005 Rev Ed)	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Trade Mark
Invalidation
Likelihood of Confusion
Manchester
Cigarettes
Registered Proprietor
Composite Marks
Dominant Element

15.2 Keywords

Trade Mark
Invalidation
Cigarettes
Manchester

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Trademarks	95
Trademark Infringement	80
Contract Law	10

16. Subjects

Intellectual Property
Trade Marks