21 April, 2020
LAW Partnership and the owner of the original Sri Paandi restaurant in Brickfields known for its authentic South Indian cuisine, Kuala Lumpur, shared a victorious moment last week when the legitimate successor (Sri Paandi Restaurant Sdn Bhd) was recognised as the rightful owner of the goodwill in the business and proprietor of the brand name ‘SRI PAANDI’. The Court of Appeal unanimously upheld the earlier High Court decision and dismissed the appeal of the defendants.
This suit involved complex and novel issues relating to the law of intellectual property (IP) including the assignment of unregistered marks and goodwill of SRI PAANDI marks by the initial partners from the 1st Partnership, being Indian nationals and the discretion of the court in varying the registration date of a trade mark application.
The Court of Appeal decided that the deeds of assignments from the members of the original partnership including those by their heirs were valid after considering the succession laws in India, discretion under s.45 of the Trade Marks Act (TMA) 1976 was correctly exercised by the judge to move the effective date of the Sri Paandi registered trade marks and that goodwill in a dissolved partnership can still carry on so long as the business continues.
This case involved a series of complex issues and novel points of law that had not been determined in Malaysia before, thereby creating an impact on the Malaysian IP law landscape, such as those relating to the law of IP including the assignment of unregistered marks and goodwill of SRI PAANDI marks by the initial partners from the 1st Partnership, being Indian nationals and the discretion of the court in varying the registration date of a trade mark application. The exploration into these intricate legal points cements the significance of this case.
LAW Partnership's IP and Technology Practice Partner Suaran Singh Sidhu and Associates Tan Hwee Yee and Pravind Suppiah represented the restaurant in what was one of the longest IP trials in Malaysia.
For further information, please contact:
