SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Yvonne Tang, Lim Siau Wen and Ruby Tham, Drew & Napier LLC
goods (not being goods in transit) that are imported into, or to be exported from, Singapore. These powers of seizure may be exercised: • upon request of the registered trade mark proprie - tor or copyright owner or their respective licensees, by way of a written notification to the Singapore Customs, providing sufficient information to iden - tify the infringing goods and the time and place of expected importation and exportation; or • ex officio by a customs officer – when the customs officer is acting ex officio, their power of seizure extends to goods-in-transit provided that these goods are consigned to a person with a commer - cial or physical presence in Singapore. Under both the Trade Marks Act and the Copyright Act, parallel imports of genuine goods are not clas - sified as infringing goods, except in very limited cir - cumstances, meaning that such goods are generally not subject to customs seizures. Trade mark and copyright infringement actions are commenced in the General Division of the High Court. Decisions of the General Division of the High Court may be appealed to the Appellate Division of the High Court. A party who intends to appeal to the Appel - late Division of the High Court must file and serve a notice of appeal on all parties with an interest in the appeal, within 28 days of the decision of the General Division of the High Court. However, where further arguments have been requested in compliance with Section 29B(2) of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1969, the time for filing the notice of appeal does not start running until the judge has either: • heard the further arguments and affirms, varies or sets aside the decision after hearing further argu - ments; or • certified or been deemed to have certified that no further arguments are required. 11. Appeal 11.1 Appellate Procedure
The appellant must provide security for the respond - ent’s costs of the appeal and file a certificate for secu - rity for costs at the time the appellant files the notice of appeal. The decision from the Appellate Division of the High Court may be further appealed to the Court of Appeal, provided permission is received from the Court of Appeal. The granting of this permission is at the Court of Appeal’s discretion and is contingent upon the appeal raising a point of law of public importance. A party who intends to appeal to the Court of Appeal must first apply for permission to appeal from the Court of Appeal, and must file and serve the applica - tion on all parties who have an interest in the appeal within 14 days of the decision of the Appellate Division of the High Court. However, where further arguments have been requested in compliance with Section 29B(2) of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1969, the time for the permission application does not start running until the judge has either: • heard the further arguments and affirms, varies or sets aside the decision after hearing further argu - ments; or • certified or been deemed to have certified that no further arguments are required. Where permission to appeal is granted, the appellant must file and serve a notice of appeal on all parties who have an interest in the appeal, within 14 days of the date of the decision granting permission to appeal. 11.2 Timeframes for Appealing Trial Court Decisions Regarding timelines to file an appeal, see 11.1 Appel- late Procedure . The duration for settling an appeal is contingent upon the complexity of the issues and the caseload of the appellate court. In general, an appeal from the trial court may take around one to two years from the date of filing to be decided.
469 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook