This Friday (14 June SGT), IPOS will be publishing a legal decision involving Bytedance Ltd.
Bytedance, a multinational internet tech company behind content platforms 抖音 (Dǒuyīn) and TikTok, was unsuccessful in opposing a trade mark registration by Dol Technology, a Singapore-incorporated company that provides Voice Over Internet Protocol services and software for interactive digital media.
The marks involved in the legal decision are:
| Dol Technology | Application Mark | ||
 | |||
| Bytedance | Word Mark | Device Mark | Composite Mark |
 |  |  | |
The Registrar found that the word mark “TikTok” was well-known to the general public in Singapore. The evidence provided as at the relevant dates in mid-2021 also demonstrated that Bytedance’s device and composite marks were well known to certain sectors of the public in Singapore, but not to the extent of the general public in Singapore.
However, the opposition failed on all grounds as the Registrar found that the Application Mark is not similar to any of the marks relied upon by Bytedance, and there would also not be a misrepresentation which must be established to succeed in a claim for passing off.
