by Geetha Kandiah
Trademark ownership must be done in a bona fide manner. Otherwise, the registered trademark can be expunged from the register. In the case of Lim Teck Lee (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd v Longcane Industries Sdn Bhd, the Plaintiff, Lim Teck Lee (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd applied, amongst others, to expunge two trademark registrations in the name of the Defendant, Longcane Industries Sdn Bhd (“Defendant’s registrations”). The registrations in contention, both of which were for a device mark “Yellow Elephant”, were in Class 21 (for rubber gloves for domestic and household use, etc) and Class 9 (for rubber gloves for industrial purposes for protection against injury and accident, etc), and were registered in 2006 and 2009 respectively.
Defendant’s Trademark Registrations in Classes 9 and 21