Symbol or representation of Office
29.—(1) The Office has the exclusive right to the use of such symbol or representation as it may select or devise and thereafter display or exhibit the symbol or representation in connection with its activities or affairs.
(2) Any person who uses a symbol or representation identical with that of the Office or which so resembles the Office’s symbol or representation as to deceive or cause confusion, or to be likely to deceive or cause confusion, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.
Powers of enforcement
30.—(1) In addition to the powers conferred on him or her by this Act or any other written law, an officer or employee of the Office may, in relation to any offence under this Act or any written law set out in the Third Schedule, on declaration of his or her office and production to the person against whom he or she is acting such identification card as the Chief Executive may direct to be carried by officers or employees of the Office —(a)
require any person whom he or she reasonably believes to have committed that offence to furnish evidence of the person’s identity;
(b)
require any person to furnish any information or produce any book, document or copy thereof in the possession of that person, and may, without fee or reward, inspect, copy or make extracts from the book or document; or
(c)
require, by written order, the attendance before the officer or employee of any person within the limits of Singapore who, from any information given or otherwise obtained by the officer or employee, appears to be acquainted with the circumstances of the case.
(2) Any person who —(a)
refuses to give access to, or assaults, obstructs, hinders or delays, an officer or employee of the Office in the discharge of the duties by the officer or employee of the Office under this Act or that written law;
(b)
wilfully mis-states or without lawful excuse refuses to give any information or produce any book, document or copy thereof required of the person by an officer or employee of the Office under subsection (1); or
(c)
fails to comply with a lawful demand of an officer or employee of the Office in the discharge by the officer or employee of the officer’s or employee’s duties under this Act or that written law,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.
Offences committed by bodies corporate, etc.
31.—(1) Where an offence under this Act which has been committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, a director, manager, secretary or any similar officer of the body corporate, or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he or she, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(2) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (1) applies in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with the member’s functions of management as if the member were a director of the body corporate.
(3) Proceedings for an offence under this Act alleged to have been committed by a partnership must be brought in the name of the partnership and not in that of the partners; but without affecting any liability of the partners under subsection (5).
(4) A fine imposed on a partnership on its conviction in such proceedings must be paid out of the partnership assets.
(5) Where a partnership is guilty of an offence under this Act, every partner, other than a partner who is proved to have been ignorant of or to have attempted to prevent the commission of the offence, shall also be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
Jurisdiction of court
32. Despite any provision to the contrary in the Criminal Procedure Code 2010, a District Court or a Magistrate’s Court has jurisdiction to try any offence under this Act and has power to impose the full penalty or punishment in respect of any offence under this Act.
Composition of offences
33.—(1) The Chief Executive or any officer authorised by the Chief Executive may compound any offence under this Act that is prescribed as a compoundable offence by collecting from a person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum of money not exceeding $1,000.
(2) On payment of the sum of money, no further proceedings are to be taken against that person in respect of the offence.
(3) All sums collected under this section must be paid into the Consolidated Fund.[Act 7 of 2022 wef 26/05/2022]
Proceedings conducted by officers of Office
34.—(1) Proceedings in respect of an offence under this Act or under any written law set out in the Third Schedule may, with the authorisation of the Public Prosecutor, be conducted by an officer of the Office who is authorised in writing in that behalf by the Chief Executive.[15/2010]
(2) Despite any written law, a legal officer of the Office who has been admitted as an advocate and solicitor under the Legal Profession Act 1966 may —(a)
appear in any civil proceedings involving the Office or any Registrar in the performance of the legal officer’s functions or duties under any written law; and
(b)
make and do all acts and applications in respect of such proceedings on behalf of the Office or any Registrar.
(3) For the purposes of this section, “Registrar” means the Registrar of Designs referred to in section 49 of the Registered Designs Act 2000, the Registrar of Geographical Indications referred to in section 17 of the Geographical Indications Act 2014, the Registrar of Patents referred to in section 4 of the Patents Act 1994, the Registrar of Trade Marks referred to in section 62 of the Trade Marks Act 1998, or the principal officer administering the system for the protection of any other intellectual property under any other written law.[19/2014]
Power of Minister to amend Third Schedule
35. The Minister may, by order in the Gazette, amend the Third Schedule.
Preservation of secrecy
36.—(1) Except for the purpose of the performance of his or her duties or the exercise of his or her functions or when lawfully required to do so by any court or where required or allowed by the provisions of any written law, a person who is or has been a member, officer, agent, employee or former employee of the Office or a member of a committee of the Office must not disclose any information or matter relating to the affairs of the Office or of any other person which has been obtained by him or her in the performance of his or her duties or the exercise of his or her functions.[5/2018]
(2) Any person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.
Rules
37.—(1) The Office may, with the approval of the Minister, make rules for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Act.
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Office may, with the approval of the Minister, make rules for or with respect to all or any of the following matters:(a)
the manner of appointment, conduct and discipline and the terms and conditions of service of the officers and employees of the Office;
(b)
the establishment of funds for the payment of gratuities and other benefits to employees of the Office;
(c)
the fees to be charged in respect of anything done or any services rendered by the Office under or by virtue of this Act or any other written law;
(d)
the regulation, accreditation and certification of intellectual property advisers.
Source: Singapore Statutes Online (Attorney-General's Chambers), © Government of Singapore.
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