{"id":13479,"date":"2021-05-06T11:21:22","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T03:21:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/?p=13479"},"modified":"2022-03-11T09:52:06","modified_gmt":"2022-03-11T01:52:06","slug":"malaysia-federal-court-upheld-3-tests-in-establishing-tort-of-passing-off-using-celebritys-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/cn\/malaysia-federal-court-upheld-3-tests-in-establishing-tort-of-passing-off-using-celebritys-name\/","title":{"rendered":"Malaysia Federal Court Upheld 3 Tests in Establishing Tort of Passing off Using Celebrity\u2019s Name"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-1 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"451\" src=\"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/intellectual_property_copyright_facts_patent_trademark_logo_infringement_copyright_infrigement_patent_infringement_industrial_design_registration_filing_malaysia_singapore_brunei_ind-1024x451.png\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"13481\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/intellectual_property_copyright_facts_patent_trademark_logo_infringement_copyright_infrigement_patent_infringement_industrial_design_registration_filing_malaysia_singapore_brunei_ind.png\" data-link=\"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/?attachment_id=13481\" class=\"wp-image-13481\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/intellectual_property_copyright_facts_patent_trademark_logo_infringement_copyright_infrigement_patent_infringement_industrial_design_registration_filing_malaysia_singapore_brunei_ind-1024x451.png 1024w, https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/intellectual_property_copyright_facts_patent_trademark_logo_infringement_copyright_infrigement_patent_infringement_industrial_design_registration_filing_malaysia_singapore_brunei_ind-300x132.png 300w, https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/intellectual_property_copyright_facts_patent_trademark_logo_infringement_copyright_infrigement_patent_infringement_industrial_design_registration_filing_malaysia_singapore_brunei_ind-768x339.png 768w, https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/intellectual_property_copyright_facts_patent_trademark_logo_infringement_copyright_infrigement_patent_infringement_industrial_design_registration_filing_malaysia_singapore_brunei_ind-16x7.png 16w, https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/intellectual_property_copyright_facts_patent_trademark_logo_infringement_copyright_infrigement_patent_infringement_industrial_design_registration_filing_malaysia_singapore_brunei_ind-600x265.png 600w, https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/intellectual_property_copyright_facts_patent_trademark_logo_infringement_copyright_infrigement_patent_infringement_industrial_design_registration_filing_malaysia_singapore_brunei_ind.png 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Facts of the case \/ Background of the case<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\" style=\"font-size:15px\"><li>Plaintiff contended that he is a widely known, influential celebrity and has numerous fans not only in Malaysia but on international level who is known by the name of \u201cHafiz Hamidun\u201d. Apart from being a singer and\/or music composer who has produced various music albums and has in fact won various music awards using the name \u201cHafiz Hamidun\u201d, plaintiff also was being listed on The World\u2019s 500 Most Influential Muslim (The Muslim 500) in the year 2015 and 2016 as an influential Muslim celebrity in the world. Plaintiff is also a director and major shareholder of 80% of the total issued shares of Haje Sdn. Bhd. (\u201cHSB\u201d), which was previously known as Mikraj Concept Sdn. Bhd. HSB conducts the business of manufacturing and trading of clothes, apparel, garments and related clothing accessories.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\" style=\"font-size:15px\"><li>Defendant on the other hand, is a company that was established in 1972 and had since conducted its business using the \u201cKAMDAR\u201d trademark that sells various fabrics through retail and wholesale stores.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\" style=\"font-size:15px\"><li>In this case, Plaintiff claimed that the Defendant has sold products using the Plaintiff\u2019s name without the Plaintiff\u2019s authorization. So this arises the issue whether the Plaintiff can claim that the Defendant has committed the tort of passing off the Defendant\u2019s fabrics for Baju Melayu that has been printed, labeled and marketed under the Plaintiff\u2019s name as fabrics which have been manufactured by, endorsed by or related to the Plaintiff.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\" style=\"font-size:15px\"><li>The Plaintiff contended that he had earned a valuable goodwill and reputation in the brand name \u201cHafiz Hamidun\u201d not only in the music industry but also in the fabric industry in Malaysia as he had been selling and promoting his clothing or fashion line under HSB using the brand name \u201cHafiz Hamidun\u201d since 2014.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\" style=\"font-size:15px\"><li>The Defendant resisting the Plaintiff\u2019s claim and argued that the brand name \u201cHafiz Hamidun\u201d had been owned by HSB and not the Plaintiff himself.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-normal-font-size\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Main Issue<\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\" style=\"font-size:15px\"><li>Given there is no statutory trade mark registration, who is the common law owner of the goodwill in the brand name \u201cHafiz Hamidun\u201d for fabrics or apparel sold by HSB. Does it belong to Plaintiff or HSB?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Patent_copyright_trademark_pintas_pintas_ip_group_patent_intellectual_property_copyright_industrial_design_copyright_infringement_law-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13482\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Patent_copyright_trademark_pintas_pintas_ip_group_patent_intellectual_property_copyright_industrial_design_copyright_infringement_law-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Patent_copyright_trademark_pintas_pintas_ip_group_patent_intellectual_property_copyright_industrial_design_copyright_infringement_law-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Patent_copyright_trademark_pintas_pintas_ip_group_patent_intellectual_property_copyright_industrial_design_copyright_infringement_law-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Patent_copyright_trademark_pintas_pintas_ip_group_patent_intellectual_property_copyright_industrial_design_copyright_infringement_law-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Patent_copyright_trademark_pintas_pintas_ip_group_patent_intellectual_property_copyright_industrial_design_copyright_infringement_law-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Patent_copyright_trademark_pintas_pintas_ip_group_patent_intellectual_property_copyright_industrial_design_copyright_infringement_law-16x12.jpg 16w, https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Patent_copyright_trademark_pintas_pintas_ip_group_patent_intellectual_property_copyright_industrial_design_copyright_infringement_law-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Law concept<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-normal-font-size\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Law Principle<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:15px\">Federal Court has restored the High Court decision and ruled that Plaintiff has the goodwill in business regarding Plaintiff\u2019s Name. Due to Plaintiff\u2019s fame as a Nasyid singer, Plaintiff has substantial or significant goodwill in the business regarding Plaintiff\u2019s Name (Plaintiff\u2019s Goodwill) when Plaintiff\u2019s name is used in relation to Plaintiff\u2019s Goods. The Court cited the case of The Commissioners of Inland Revenue v Muller &amp; Co\u2019s Margarine Ltd when the Plaintiff\u2019s goods are marketed and sold based on the Plaintiff\u2019s Name, the Plaintiff\u2019s Name constitutes an \u201cattractive force which brings in custom\u201d. Plaintiff\u2019s Goodwill is clearly shown in the messages from Plaintiff\u2019s fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-normal-font-size\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Conclusion<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:15px\">This Federal Court case could be one of the many landmark cases when it revolves around the same issue as Hafiz Hamidun\u2019s. Even though there is no statutory trademark registration that has been made previously by Plaintiff, since Plaintiff has passed the goodwill test as in the Muller case, the verdict is made in Plaintiff\u2019s favor.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Facts of the case \/ Background of the case Plaintiff contended that he is a widely known, influential celebrity and has numerous fans not only in Malaysia but on international level who is known by the name of \u201cHafiz Hamidun\u201d. Apart from being a singer and\/or music composer who has produced various music albums and [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":13481,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/intellectual_property_copyright_facts_patent_trademark_logo_infringement_copyright_infrigement_patent_infringement_industrial_design_registration_filing_malaysia_singapore_brunei_ind.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}