Ley de 2018 sobre la Aplicación de Medidas en Frontera en Materia de Propiedad Intelectual (Ley N° 34 de 2018), Singapur, WIPO Lex

Textos principales

Inglés Intellectual Property (Border Enforcement) Act 2018 (Act No. 34 of 2018)

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (BORDER ENFORCEMENT) ACT 2018

No. 34 of 2018.

An Act to amend the Copyright Act (Chapter 63 of the 2006 Revised Edition), the Geographical Indications Act 2014 (Act 19 of 2014), the Registered Designs Act (Chapter 266 of the 2005 Revised Edition) and the TradeMarks Act (Chapter 332 of the 2005 Revised Edition), to enhance border enforcement measures for intellectual property rights, and to make related amendments to certain other Acts.

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows:

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Short title and commencement

1. This Act is the Intellectual Property (Border Enforcement) Act 2018 and comes into operation on a date that the Minister appoints by notification in the Gazette.

PART 1

AMENDMENTS TO COPYRIGHT ACT

Division 1 — Phase 1 Amendments

New section 140AA

2. The Copyright Act (Cap. 63) is amended by inserting, immediately after section 140A, the following section:

“Delegation of Director-General’s powers

140AA. The Director-General may delegate to a senior officer of customs (within the meaning of section 3(1) of the Customs Act) any of the powers of the Director-General under this Division (except the power of delegation conferred by this section), subject to such conditions or restrictions as the Director-General may determine.”.

Amendment of section 140C

3. Section 140C of the Copyright Act is amended —

(a) by deleting the words “or expense it is likely to incur as a result of the seizure of the copies” in paragraph (a) and substituting the words “or reasonable expense it is likely to incur in relation to the seizure, storage and disposal of the copies,”; and

(b) by inserting, immediately after the word “seizure” in the section heading, the words “, storage and disposal”.

New sections 140EA and 140EB

4. The Copyright Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 140E, the following sections:

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“Persons bound to give information or produce documents

140EA.—(1) At any time after copies of copyright material have been seized under section 140B(7), an authorised officer or a senior authorised officer who has reasonable cause to believe that a person has any information or document that the officer considers is relevant for any of the purposes in subsection (2), may require that person to provide to the officer that information or document at a time and place specified by the officer.

(2) The purposes mentioned in subsection (1) are —

(a) to enable the Director-General to satisfy a request under section 140EB (whether or not such a request has actually been received);

(b) to enable any action to be taken under this Division in relation to future shipments of goods; and

(3) A person who —

(a) without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a requirement under subsection (1); or

(b) in purported compliance with such requirement, knowingly or recklessly provides any information or document that is false or misleading in a material particular,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $6,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.

(4) A person is not excused from providing any information or document in compliance with a requirement under subsection (1) on the ground that it might tend to incriminate the person.

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against the person in criminal proceedings other than proceedings for an offence under subsection (3).

(6) No information or document that is provided pursuant to a requirement under subsection (1) may be published, or communicated or disclosed to any person, except where and to the extent it is necessary for a purpose in subsection (2).

(7) A person who contravenes subsection (6) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $6,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.

Information on import

140EB.—(1) After copies of copyright material have been seized under section 140B(7), the Director-General may, upon the request of the objector, and if the Director-General is satisfied that the information is necessary to enable the objector to institute an action for infringement of copyright, give the objector the name and contact details of any person connected with the import of the seized copies.

(2) Subsection (1) applies despite any duty of confidentiality imposed by the common law on the Director-General or a person to whom the Director-General has delegated the power under that subsection.”.

Amendment of section 140G

5. Section 140G of the Copyright Act is amended —

(a) by inserting, immediately after the words “by written notice” in subsection (1), the words “and the giving of the prescribed written undertakings”; and

(b) by deleting the words “gives such a notice” in subsection (3) and substituting the words “satisfies the requirements of subsection (1)”.

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Amendment of section 140K

6. Section 140K of the Copyright Act is amended —

(a) by renumbering the section as subsection (1) of that section, and by inserting immediately thereafter the following subsection:

“(2) If —

(a) the Director-General gives to the importer a written notice of the release of seized copies; and

(b) the importer fails to take custody of the seized copies within the period specified in the notice,

the Director-General may dispose of the copies —

(i) in the manner prescribed by regulations; or

(ii) if no manner of disposal is so prescribed, as the Director-General directs.”; and

(b) by deleting the words “ordered to be forfeited” in the section heading.

Amendment of section 140LA

7. Section 140LA of the Copyright Act is amended —

(a) by inserting, immediately after subsection (2), the following subsections:

“(2A) At any time after copies of copyright material have been detained under subsection (1)(a), an authorised officer or a senior authorised officer who has reasonable cause to believe that a person has any information or document that the officer considers is relevant for any of the purposes in subsection (2B), may require that person to provide to the officer that information or document at a time and place specified by the officer.

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(2B) The purposes mentioned in subsection (2A) are —

(a) to enable the Director-General to satisfy a request under subsection (2H) (whether or not such a request has actually been received);

(b) to enable any action to be taken under this Division in relation to future shipments of goods; and

(2C) A person who —

(a) without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a requirement under subsection (2A); or

(b) in purported compliance with such requirement, knowingly or recklessly provides any information or document that is false or misleading in a material particular,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $6,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.

(2D) A person is not excused from providing any information or document in compliance with a requirement under subsection (2A) on the ground that it might tend to incriminate the person.

(2E) Where the person claims, before providing any information or document pursuant to a requirement under subsection (2A), that it might tend to incriminate the person, then the information or document is not admissible in evidence against the person in criminal proceedings other than proceedings for an offence under subsection (2C).

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(2F) No information or document that is provided pursuant to a requirement under subsection (2A) may be published, or communicated or disclosed to any person, except where and to the extent it is necessary for a purpose in subsection (2B).

(2G) A person who contravenes subsection (2F) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $6,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.

(2H) The Director-General may, upon the request of the owner of the copyright in the copyright material, and if the Director-General is satisfied that the information is necessary to enable the owner to institute an action for infringement of the copyright, give the owner the name and contact details of any person connected with the import or proposed export (as the case may be) of the detained copies.

(2I) However, no disclosure under subsection (2H) is permitted unless the owner of the copyright in the copyright material to whom disclosure is to be made —

(a) in the case of copies that are imported into Singapore and that are not goods in transit, has carried out the acts in subsection (3)(a)(i), (ii) and (iii); or

(b) in the case of copies that are to be exported from Singapore or copies that are goods in transit and consigned to a person with a commercial or physical presence in Singapore —

(i) satisfies the Director-General that copyright subsists in the copyright material and that he is the owner of the copyright; and

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(ii) has carried out the act mentioned in subsection (3)(b)(iii).

(2J) Subsection (2H) applies despite any duty of confidentiality imposed by the common law on the Director-General or a person to whom the Director- General has delegated the power under that subsection.”; and

(b) by deleting the words “or expense it has and is likely to further incur as a result of the detention of the copies” in subsection (3)(b)(iii)(A) and substituting the words “or reasonable expense it has and is likely to further incur in relation to the detention, storage and disposal of the copies”.

Division 2 — Phase 2 Amendments

New Subdivision (1) heading to Division 6 of Part V

8. The Copyright Act is amended by inserting, immediately above section 140A, the following Subdivision heading:

“Subdivision (1) — Preliminary provisions”.

Amendment of section 140A

9. Section 140A of the Copyright Act is amended —

(a) by deleting the definition of “objector”; and

(b) by inserting, immediately after the definition of “pilot of an aircraft”, the following definitions:

“ “requestor”, in relation to particular seized copies, means the person who gave the written notice under section 140B(1) as a result of the giving of which the copies were seized;

“retention period”, in relation to particular seized copies, means —

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(a) the period specified in the notice given under section 140E(2) in respect of those copies; or

(b) if that period has been extended under section 140E(6), that period as so extended;”.

New section 140AB

10. The Copyright Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 140AA, as inserted by section 2, the following section:

“Fees

140AB.—(1) The Minister charged with the responsibility for customs duties may make regulations to prescribe the fees payable to the Director-General in connection with the administration of this Division and Division 7.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), regulations may be made to prescribe fees for the following purposes:

(a) for the escort of a conveyance conveying copies of copyright material seized under section 140B(7) or 140LA;

(b) for the attendance of an authorised officer or a senior authorised officer in connection with the inspection or destruction of such seized copies;

(c) for the attendance of an authorised officer or a senior authorised officer in connection with any other act or service under this Division or Division 7.”.

New Subdivision (2) heading to Division 6 of Part V

11. The Copyright Act is amended by inserting, immediately above section 140B, the following Subdivision heading:

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“Subdivision (2) — Seizure of copies on request”.

Amendment of section 140B

12. Section 140B of the Copyright Act is amended —

(a) by inserting, immediately after the word “imported” in subsection (1)(b) and (c)(ii), the words “or exported”;

(b) by deleting paragraph (d) of subsection (1) and substituting the following paragraph:

“(d) requesting the Director-General to seize the copies.”;

“(2) A notice under subsection (1) must be —

(a) in the form determined by the Director- General, and supported by such documents and information as the Director-General may require; and

(b) accompanied by the fee prescribed under section 140AB.

(3) Subject to subsection (4), this section applies to copies of copyright material —

(a) made wholly or partly outside Singapore the making of which was carried out without the consent of the owner of the copyright; or

(b) made in Singapore the making of which constituted an infringement of copyright.”;

(d) by deleting the words “the end of the period of 60 days commencing on” in subsection (5)(a) and substituting the words “the 59th day after”;

(e) by inserting, immediately after the word “material” in subsection (7)(a), the words “that complies with subsection (2)”;

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(f) by deleting paragraph (c) of subsection (7) and substituting the following paragraph:

“(c) a person imports or proposes to export copies of the copyright material to which this section applies,”;

(g) by deleting subsection (8) and substituting the following subsection:

“(8) The Minister may make regulations that are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Subdivision, and in particular to provide —

(a) for the times at which, and the manner in which, notices are to be given;

(b) for the giving of information and evidence to the Director-General; and

(c) that an authorised officer may refuse to seize copies of any copyright material because of non-compliance with any direction of the Director-General or any such regulation.”; and

(h) by inserting, immediately after the word “importation” in the section heading, the words “or exportation”.

Amendment of section 140C

13. Section 140C of the Copyright Act, as amended by section 3, is amended by deleting the word “objector” in paragraphs (a) and (b) and substituting in each case the word “requestor”.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 140D

14. Section 140D of the Copyright Act is repealed and the following section substituted therefor:

“Secure storage of seized copies

140D. At the Director-General’s direction, seized copies must be taken to a secure place the Director-General directs, either by

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the person in possession, custody or control of those copies immediately before the seizure or the requestor, whoever the Director-General considers appropriate.”.

Amendment of section 140E

15. Section 140E of the Copyright Act is amended —

(a) by deleting the words “and the objector, either personally or by post” in subsection (1) and substituting the words “or exporter (as the case may be), and the requestor, personally, by post or (with the prior consent of the addressee) by email”;

(b) by inserting, immediately after the word “importer” in subsection (2), the words “or exporter”;

(c) by deleting the word “objector” in subsections (2)(a) and (b) and (5) and substituting in each case the word “requestor”;

(d) by deleting the word “from” in subsection (2)(a) and substituting the word “after”; and

(e) by deleting the words “retention period” in subsections (5), (6) and (7) and substituting in each case the words “initial period”.

Amendment of section 140EA

16. Section 140EA(2) of the Copyright Act, as inserted by section 4, is amended by deleting the words “this Division” in paragraph (b) and substituting the words “this Subdivision or Subdivision (3)”.

Amendment of section 140EB

17. Section 140EB of the Copyright Act, as inserted by section 4, is amended —

(a) by deleting the word “objector” wherever it appears in subsection (1) and substituting in each case the word “requestor”;

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(b) by inserting, immediately after the word “import” in subsection (1), the words “or proposed export (as the case may be)”; and

Amendment of section 140F

18. Section 140F of the Copyright Act is amended —

(a) by deleting the word “objector” wherever it appears in subsections (1), (2) and (5) and substituting in each case the word “requestor”;

(b) by inserting, immediately after the word “importer” in subsection (1), the words “or exporter (as the case may be)”;

(d) by inserting, immediately after the words “If the importer” in subsection (3), the words “or exporter (as the case may be)”;

(e) by inserting, immediately after the words “permit the importer” in subsection (3), the words “or exporter”;

(f) by inserting, immediately after the words “by the importer” in subsection (3), the words “or exporter”; and

(g) by inserting, immediately after the word “importer” wherever it appears in subsection (5), the words “or exporter”.

Amendment of section 140G

19. Section 140G of the Copyright Act, as amended by section 5, is amended —

(a) by inserting, immediately after the word “importer” in subsection (1), the words “or exporter (as the case may be)”; and

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(b) by inserting, immediately after the word “importer” in subsection (3), the words “or exporter”.

Amendment of section 140H

20. Section 140H of the Copyright Act is amended —

(a) by inserting, immediately after the word “importer” in subsection (1), the words “or exporter (as the case may be)”;

(b) by deleting the words “on the expiration” in subsection (1) and substituting the words “as soon as possible after the expiration”;

(d) by deleting subsection (2);

(e) by deleting the words “at the end of the period of 3 weeks commencing on” in subsection (3)(b) and substituting the words “on the 22nd day after”;

(f) by inserting, immediately after the words “to the importer” in subsection (3), the words “or the exporter (as the case may be) as soon as possible after the firstmentioned day”;

(g) by inserting, immediately after the words “to the importer” in subsection (4), the words “or the exporter (as the case may be) as soon as possible”; and

(h) by inserting, immediately after the word “importer” in the section heading, the words “or exporter”.

Amendment of section 140I

21. Section 140I of the Copyright Act is amended —

(a) by inserting, immediately after the words “importation of seized copies” in subsection (1), the words “or by the making of seized copies”;

(b) by inserting, immediately after the word “importer” in subsection (4)(a) and (b), the words “or exporter (as the case may be)”;

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(d) by deleting the word “objector” in subsection (7) and substituting the word “requestor”.

Amendment of section 140IA

22. Section 140IA of the Copyright Act is amended —

(a) by deleting the word “objector” wherever it appears in subsections (1) and (2) and substituting in each case the word “requestor”; and

(b) by deleting subsection (3).

Amendment of section 140K

23. Section 140K(2) of the Copyright Act, as inserted by section 6, is amended by inserting, immediately after the word “importer” wherever it appears in paragraphs (a) and (b), the words “or exporter”.

Amendment of section 140L

24. Section 140L of the Copyright Act is amended —

(a) by deleting the words “this Division”wherever they appear in subsection (1) and substituting in each case the words “this Subdivision”;

(b) by deleting the word “objector” in subsection (2) and substituting the word “requestor”; and

(c) by deleting the word “objectors” wherever it appears in subsection (2) and substituting in each case the word “requestors”.

Repeal of section 140LA and new Subdivision (3) of Division 6 of Part V

25. Section 140LA of the Copyright Act, as amended by section 7, is repealed and the following Subdivision heading and sections substituted therefor:

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“Subdivision (3) — Ex-officio seizure of copies

Seizure and inspection of infringing copies

140LA.—(1) Despite section 140B(7), an authorised officer may —

(a) examine any copies of copyright material to which this subsection applies, including goods in transit; or

(b) seize any copies of copyright material to which this subsection applies —

(i) that are imported into, or that are to be exported from, Singapore; and

(ii) that are not goods in transit, unless they are consigned to a person with a commercial or physical presence in Singapore.

(2) Subsection (1) applies to copies of copyright material that the authorised officer reasonably suspects are infringing copies of the copyright material.

(3) As soon as practicable after the copies of the copyright material are seized under subsection (1)(b), the Director-General must give personally, by post or (with the prior consent of the addressee) by email, a written notice to —

(a) the importer, exporter or consignee (as the case may be) of the seized copies (called in this Subdivision the dealer); and

(b) the owner of the copyright in the copyright material.

(4) The written notice in subsection (3) must —

(a) identify the copies seized; and

(b) set out the rights of the dealer in section 140F (as applied by subsection (5)), and the requirements in section 140LB.

(5) Section 140F applies in relation to the seized copies as it applies in relation to copies of copyright material seized under section 140B(7), with the following modifications:

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(a) replace a reference to the requestor with a reference to the owner of the copyright in the copyright material;

(b) replace a reference to the importer or exporter with a reference to the dealer.

(6) At the Director-General’s direction, seized copies must be taken to a secure place the Director-General directs by such of the following as the Director-General considers appropriate:

(a) the person in possession, custody or control of those copies immediately before the seizure;

(b) the owner of the copyright material (but only if the owner has satisfied section 140LB(1)(a) and (b)).

Requirements for continued detention

140LB.—(1) If the owner of the copyright in the copyright material wants the Director-General to continue to detain the seized copies of the copyright material so that the owner may institute an action for infringement of copyright in relation to them, the owner must, within the prescribed period after the date of the notice in section 140LA(3) —

(a) give to the Director-General a written notice of this in the form determined by the Director-General, supported by such documents and information as the Director-General may require, and accompanied by the fee prescribed under section 140AB; and

(b) either —

(i) deposit with the Director-General a sum of money that, in the Director-General’s opinion, is sufficient for the purpose mentioned in subsection (2); or

(ii) give security to the Director-General’s satisfaction for such purpose,

unless the owner had earlier given such deposit or security to the Director-General and the deposit had

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not been forfeited or returned or the security is still effective.

(2) The purpose in subsection (1) is the reimbursement to the Government of —

(a) any liability or reasonable expense it is likely to incur in relation to the seizure, storage and disposal of the copies; and

(b) the payment of such compensation as the court may order under section 140LI or section 140I(7) (as applied by section 140LH).

(3) If subsection (1) is not satisfied, the Director-General must release the seized copies to the dealer.

(4) The Minister may make regulations that are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Subdivision, and in particular to provide —

(a) for the times at which, and the manner in which, notices are to be given;

(b) for the giving of information and evidence to the Director-General; and

(c) that the Director-General may release seized copies of any copyright material to the dealer concerned because of non-compliance with any direction of the Director-General or any such regulation.

Notice to take action

140LC.—(1) If section 140LB(1)(a) and (b) has been satisfied by the owner of the copyright in the copyright material, the Director-General must, as soon as practicable, give to the owner and the dealer personally, by post or (with the prior consent of the addressee) by email, a written notice stating that the copies will be released to the dealer unless —

(a) an action for infringement of copyright in relation to the copies is instituted by the owner within a

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prescribed period after the day specified in the notice; and

(b) the owner gives written notice to the Director-General within the period in paragraph (a) stating that such action has been instituted.

(2) Section 140E(4) to (7) applies in relation to a notice under subsection (1) as it applies in relation to a notice under section 140E(1), as if a reference to the requestor is a reference to the owner of the copyright in the copyright material.

Persons bound to give information or produce documents

140LD.—(1) At any time after copies of copyright material have been seized under section 140LA, an authorised officer or a senior authorised officer who has reasonable cause to believe that a person has any information or document that the officer considers is relevant for any of the purposes in subsection (2) may require that person to provide to the officer that information or document at a time and place specified by the officer.

(2) The purposes mentioned in subsection (1) are —

(a) to enable the Director-General to satisfy a request under section 140LE (whether or not such a request has actually been received);

(b) to enable any action to be taken under this Subdivision or Subdivision (2) in relation to future shipments of goods; and

(3) A person who —

(a) without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a requirement under subsection (1); or

(b) in purported compliance with such requirement, knowingly or recklessly provides any information or document that is false or misleading in a material particular,

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shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $6,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.

(4) A person is not excused from providing any information or document in compliance with a requirement under subsection (1) on the ground that it might tend to incriminate the person.

(5) Where the person claims, before providing any information or document pursuant to a requirement under subsection (1), that it might tend to incriminate the person, then the information or document is not admissible in evidence against the person in criminal proceedings other than proceedings for an offence under subsection (3).

Information on import or export

140LE.—(1) After section 140LB(1)(a) and (b) has been satisfied by the owner of the copyright material, the Director- General may, upon the request of the owner, and if the Director- General is satisfied that the information is necessary to enable the owner to institute an infringement action, give the owner the name and contact details of any person connected with the import or proposed export (as the case may be) of the seized copies.

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Forfeiture of seized copies by consent

140LF.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), the dealer may, by written notice and the giving of the prescribed written undertakings to the Director-General, consent to the seized copies being forfeited to the Government.

(2) The notice must be given before any action for infringement of copyright in relation to the copies is instituted.

(3) If the dealer satisfies the requirements of subsection (1), the copies are forfeited to the Government and must be disposed of —

(a) in the manner prescribed by regulations; or

(b) if no manner of disposal is so prescribed, as the Director-General directs.

Compulsory release of seized copies to dealer

140LG.—(1) The Director-General must release the seized copies (not being copies forfeited to the Government under section 140LF) to the dealer as soon as possible after the date of expiry of the period specified in the notice under section 140LC(1) (including any extension of that period under section 140E(6) as applied by section 140LC(2)), if the owner of the copyright in the copyright material has not, before that date —

(a) instituted an action for infringement of the copyright in respect of the copies; and

(b) given written notice to the Director-General stating that the action has been instituted.

(2) If —

(a) an action for infringement of copyright has been instituted in respect of the seized copies; and

(b) on the 22nd day after the day on which the action was instituted, there is not in force an order of the court preventing the release of the copies,

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the Director-General must release the copies to the dealer as soon as possible after the firstmentioned day.

(3) If the owner of the copyright in the copyright material gives a written notice to the Director-General stating that the owner consents to the release of the seized copies, the Director- General must release the copies to the dealer as soon as possible.

Provisions relating to actions for infringement of copyright

140LH. Section 140I applies in relation to an action for infringement of copyright constituted by the import of the copies seized under section 140LA or the making of the copies so seized, as it applies in relation to an action for infringement of copyright constituted by the import of the copies seized under section 140B(7) or the making of the copies so seized, with the following modifications:

(a) replace a reference to the requestor with a reference to the owner of the copyright in the copyright material;

(b) replace a reference to the importer or exporter with a reference to the dealer.

Compensation for failure to take action

140LI.—(1) Where —

(a) copies of copyright material have been seized under section 140LA;

(b) the copies continue to be detained because section 140LB(1)(a) and (b) has been satisfied; and

(c) the owner fails to take infringement action within the period specified in the notice under section 140LC(1) (including any extension of that period under section 140E(6) as applied by section 140LC(2)),

a person aggrieved by the seizure may apply to the court for an order of compensation against the owner.

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(2) Where the court is satisfied that the applicant has suffered loss or damage as a result of the seizure of the copies, the court may order the owner to pay to the applicant compensation of such amount as the court thinks fit.

Retention of control of seized copies

140LJ. Despite section 140LG and any regulation made under section 140LB(4)(c), in a case in which no order has been made under section 140I(4) (as applied by section 140LH) in relation to the seized copies, the Director-General is not obliged to release or dispose of the copies if the Government is required or permitted, under any other law, to retain control of the copies.

Disposal of seized copies

140LK. Section 140K applies in relation to copies of copyright material seized under section 140LA, as it applies in relation to copies of copyright material seized under section 140B(7), with a reference to the importer or exporter replaced with a reference to the dealer.

Insufficient security

140LL.—(1) If the reasonable expenses incurred by the Director-General in relation to any action taken by the Director-General under this Subdivision, or taken in accordance with an order of a court under this Subdivision exceed the amount deposited, or the amount of the security given, under section 140LB, the amount of the excess is a debt due to the Government.

(2) The debt created by subsection (1) is due by the owner of the copyright in the copyright material or, if there are 2 or more such owners, by the owners jointly and severally.”.

Amendment of section 140M

26. Section 140M(1) of the Copyright Act is amended by deleting the words “detained under section”.

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Amendment of section 140N

27. Section 140N of the Copyright Act is amended —

(a) by inserting, immediately after the word “imported” in subsection (1), the words “, or is being exported,”;

(b) by deleting the words “detained under section” in subsection (1);

(c) by deleting the words “tests or analysis” in subsection (1)(b) and substituting the words “infringement verification, or tests or analysis,”; and

(d) by inserting, immediately after subsection (2), the following subsection:

“(3) In this section, “infringement verification” means any process (whether or not involving the owner of the copyright in the copyright material concerned) to determine if any article is or contains a copy of copyright material liable to be seized under section 140B(7) or 140LA.”.

Amendment of section 140O

28. Section 140O(3) of the Copyright Act is amended by deleting the word “goods” wherever it appears and substituting in each case the words “package, box, chest, article or goods (as the case may be)”.

Amendment of section 140P

29. Section 140P(1) of the Copyright Act is amended by deleting the words “detained under section” wherever they appear in paragraphs (a) and (b).

Repeal and re-enactment of section 140Q

30. Section 140Q of the Copyright Act is repealed and the following section substituted therefor:

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“Powers of authorised officers to enter certain premises

140Q.—(1) For the purpose of exercising the powers conferred by sections 140M to 140P, an authorised officer may, without warrant, enter upon —

(a) any islet, landing place, wharf, dock, railway or quay;

(b) any premises of a provider of port services or facilities licensed or exempted under the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore Act (Cap. 170A); or

(c) any premises of any airport operated under a licence or exemption under the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore Act (Cap. 41).

(2) In this section, “railway” has the meaning given by the Railways Act (Cap. 263).”.

PART 2

AMENDMENTS TO GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS ACT 2014

Amendment of Division heading of Part VI

31. Part VI of the Geographical Indications Act 2014 (Act 19 of 2014) (called in this Part the principal Act) is amended by deleting the words “Border measures” in the heading of Division 1 and substituting the words “Preliminary provisions”.

Amendment of section 55

32. Section 55 of the principal Act is amended —

(a) by deleting the definition of “detained goods”;

(b) by deleting the words “detained goods” in the definitions of “infringement action” and “retention period” and substituting in each case the words “seized goods”; and

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“ “seized goods” means goods seized under section 56;”.

New sections 55A and 55B

33. The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 55, the following sections:

“Delegation of Director-General’s powers

55A. The Director-General may delegate to a senior officer of customs (within the meaning of section 3(1) of the Customs Act (Cap. 70)) any of the powers of the Director-General under this Part (except the power of delegation conferred by this section), subject to such conditions or restrictions as the Director- General may determine.

Fees

55B.—(1) The Minister charged with the responsibility for customs duties may make rules to prescribe the fees payable to the Director-General in connection with the administration of this Part.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), rules may be made to prescribe fees for the following purposes:

(a) for the escort of a conveyance conveying goods seized under section 56 or 67;

(b) for the attendance of an authorised officer or a senior authorised officer in connection with the inspection or destruction of goods seized under section 56 or 67;

(c) for the attendance of an authorised officer or a senior authorised officer in connection with any other act or service under this Part.”.

New Division heading of Part VI

34. Part VI of the principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately above section 56, the following Division heading:

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“Division 2 — Seizure of goods on request”.

Amendment of section 56

35. Section 56 of the principal Act is amended —

(a) by deleting the word “detain” in subsections (1)(d) and (4) and substituting in each case the word “seize”;

(b) by deleting subsection (2) and substituting the following subsection:

“(2) A notice under subsection (1) must be —

(a) in the form determined by the Director- General, and supported by such documents and information as the Director-General may require; and

(b) accompanied by the fee prescribed under section 55B.”;

(c) by deleting the words “the end of the period of 60 days commencing on” in subsection (3) and substituting the words “the 59th day after”;

(d) by deleting the words “or exports” in subsection (4)(c) and substituting the words “or proposes to export”;

(e) by deleting subsection (5) and substituting the following subsection:

“(5) The Minister may make rules that are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Division, and in particular to provide —

(a) for the times at which, and the manner in which, notices are to be given;

(b) for the giving of information and evidence to the Director-General; and

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with any direction of the Director-General or any such rule.”; and

(f) by deleting the word “detention” in the section heading and substituting the word “seizure”.

Amendment of section 57

36. Section 57 of the principal Act is amended —

(a) by deleting the word “detain” and substituting the word “seize”;

(b) by inserting, immediately before the word “expense”, the word “reasonable”; and

(c) by deleting the word “detention” (including in the section heading) and substituting in each case the word “seizure”.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 58

37. Section 58 of the principal Act is repealed and the following section substituted therefor:

“Secured storage of seized goods

58. At the Director-General’s direction, seized goods must be taken to a secure place the Director-General directs, either by the person in possession, custody or control of those goods immediately before the seizure or the requestor, whoever the Director-General considers appropriate.”.

Amendment of section 59

38. Section 59 of the principal Act is amended —

(a) by deleting the word “detained” wherever it appears in subsection (1) and substituting in each case the word “seized”;

(b) by deleting the words “either personally or by post” in subsection (1) and substituting the words “personally, by post or (with the prior consent of the addressee) by email”; and

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New sections 59A and 59B

39. The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 59, the following sections:

“Persons bound to give information or produce documents

59A.—(1) At any time after goods have been seized under section 56(4), an authorised officer or a senior authorised officer who has reasonable cause to believe that a person has any information or document that the officer considers is relevant for any of the purposes in subsection (2), may require that person to provide to the officer that information or document at a time and place specified by the officer.

(2) The purposes mentioned in subsection (1) are —

(a) to enable the Director-General to satisfy a request under section 59B (whether or not such a request has actually been received);

(b) to enable any action to be taken under this Division or Division 3 in relation to future shipments of goods; and

(3) A person who —

(a) without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a requirement under subsection (1); or

(b) in purported compliance with such requirement, knowingly or recklessly provides any information or document that is false or misleading in a material particular,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $6,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.

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(4) A person is not excused from providing any information or document in compliance with a requirement under subsection (1) on the ground that it might tend to incriminate the person.

Information on import or export

59B.—(1) After goods have been seized under section 56(4), the Director-General may, upon the request of the requestor, and if the Director-General is satisfied that the information is necessary to enable the requestor to institute an infringement action, give the requestor the name and contact details of any person connected with the import or proposed export (as the case may be) of the seized goods.

Amendment of section 60

40. Section 60 of the principal Act is amended by deleting the word “detained” wherever it appears in subsections (1), (2), (3) and (5)

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and in the section heading and substituting in each case the word “seized”.

Amendment of section 61

41. Section 61 of the principal Act is amended —

(a) by deleting the word “detained” in subsections (1), (2)(a) and (3) and in the section heading and substituting in each case the word “seized”;

(b) by deleting the words “on the expiration” in subsection (1) and substituting the words “as soon as possible after the expiration”;

(c) by deleting the words “at the end of a period of 3 weeks commencing on” in subsection (2)(b) and substituting the words “on the 22nd day after”;

(d) by inserting, immediately after the words “(as the case may be)” in subsection (2), the words “as soon as possible after the firstmentioned day”; and

(e) by inserting, immediately after the words “(as the case may be)” in subsection (3), the words “as soon as possible”.

Amendment of section 62

42. Section 62 of the principal Act is amended —

(a) by deleting the word “detained” in subsection (1) and substituting the word “seized”; and

(b) by deleting the word “detention” in subsections (1) and (2) and substituting in each case the word “seizure”.

Amendment of section 63

43. Section 63 of the principal Act is amended —

(a) by deleting the word “detained” in subsections (3)(a) and (b), (4) and (6)(a) and substituting in each case the word “seized”; and

(b) by deleting the word “detention” in subsection (6)(b) and substituting the word “seizure”.

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Amendment of section 64

44. Section 64 of the principal Act is amended by deleting the word “detained” (including in the section heading) and substituting in each case the word “seized”.

Amendment of section 65

45. Section 65 of the principal Act is amended —

(a) by deleting the words “detained goods within such prescribed period” and substituting the words “seized goods within the period specified in the notice”; and

(b) by deleting the word “detained” in the section heading and substituting the word “seized”.

Amendment of section 66

46. Section 66(1) of the principal Act is amended by deleting the word “Part” wherever it appears and substituting in each case the word “Division”.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 67 and new sections 67A to 67J

47. Section 67 of the principal Act is repealed and the following Division heading and sections substituted therefor:

“Division 3 — Ex-officio seizure of goods

Seizure and inspection of suspected infringing goods

67.—(1) Despite section 56(4), an authorised officer may seize or examine any goods that are —

(a) imported into Singapore; or

(b) to be exported from Singapore,

and that are not goods in transit, which the officer reasonably suspects are suspected infringing goods in relation to a registered geographical indication.

(2) As soon as practicable after the goods are seized under subsection (1), the Director-General must give personally, by

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post or (with the prior consent of the addressee) by email, a written notice to —

(a) the importer or exporter of the seized goods (called in this Division the dealer); and

(b) the registrant of the registered geographical indication.

(3) The written notice in subsection (2) must —

(a) identify the goods seized; and

(b) set out the rights of the dealer in section 60 (as applied by subsection (5)), and the requirements in section 67A.

(4) The Director-General may permit an interested party of the registered geographical indication, or the dealer, to inspect the seized goods.

(5) Section 60(2) to (5) applies in relation to the seized goods as it applies in relation to goods seized under section 56(4), with the following modifications:

(a) replace a reference to the requestor with a reference to an interested party of the registered geographical indication;

(b) replace a reference to the importer or exporter with a reference to the dealer.

(6) At the Director-General’s direction, seized goods must be taken to a secure place the Director-General directs, by such of the following as the Director-General considers appropriate:

(a) the person in possession, custody or control of those goods immediately before the seizure;

(b) an interested party of the registered geographical indication who has satisfied section 67A(1)(a) and (b).

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Requirements for continued detention

67A.—(1) If any interested party of the registered geographical indication (called in this Division the relevant interested party) wants the Director-General to continue to detain the seized goods so that the relevant interested party may institute an infringement action in relation to them, the relevant interested party must, within the prescribed period after the date of the notice in section 67(2) —

(b) either —

(i) deposit with the Director-General a sum of money that, in the Director-General’s opinion, is sufficient for the purpose mentioned in subsection (2); or

(ii) give security to the Director-General’s satisfaction for such purpose,

unless the relevant interested party had earlier given such deposit or security to the Director-General and the deposit had not been forfeited or returned or the security is still effective.

(2) The purpose in subsection (1) is the reimbursement to the Government of —

(a) any liability or reasonable expense it is likely to incur in relation to the seizure, storage and disposal of the goods; and

(b) the payment of such compensation as the Court may order under section 67G or section 63(6) (as applied by section 67F).

(3) If subsection (1) is not satisfied, the Director-General must release the seized goods to the dealer.

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(4) The Minister may make rules that are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Division, and in particular to provide —

(a) for the times at which, and the manner in which, notices are to be given;

(b) for the giving of information and evidence to the Director-General; and

(c) that the Director-General may release any seized goods to the dealer concerned because of non- compliance with any direction of the Director- General or any such rule.

Notice to take action

67B.—(1) If section 67A(1)(a) and (b) has been satisfied by the relevant interested party, the Director-General must, as soon as practicable, give to the relevant interested party and the dealer personally, by post or (with the prior consent of the addressee) by email, a written notice stating that the goods will be released to the dealer unless —

(a) an infringement action in relation to the goods is instituted by the relevant interested party within a prescribed period after the day specified in the notice; and

(b) the relevant interested party gives written notice to the Director-General within the period in paragraph (a) stating that such action has been instituted.

(2) Section 59(4) to (7) applies in relation to a notice under subsection (1) as it applies in relation to a notice under section 59(1), as if a reference to the requestor is a reference to the relevant interested party.

Persons bound to give information or produce documents

67C.—(1) At any time after goods have been seized under section 67, an authorised officer or a senior authorised officer

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who has reasonable cause to believe that a person has any information or document that the officer considers is relevant for any of the purposes in subsection (2), may require that person to provide to the officer that information or document at a time and place specified by the officer.

(2) The purposes mentioned in subsection (1) are —

(a) to enable the Director-General to satisfy a request under section 67D (whether or not such a request has actually been received);

(b) to enable any action to be taken under this Division or Division 2 in relation to future shipments of goods; and

(3) A person who —

(a) without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a requirement under subsection (1); or

(b) in purported compliance with such requirement, knowingly or recklessly provides any information or document that is false or misleading in a material particular,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $6,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.

(4) A person is not excused from providing any information or document in compliance with a requirement under subsection (1) on the ground that it might tend to incriminate the person.

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Information on import or export

67D.—(1) After section 67A(1)(a) and (b) has been satisfied by the relevant interested party, the Director-General may, upon the request of the relevant interested party, and if the Director- General is satisfied that the information is necessary to enable the relevant interested party to institute an infringement action, give the relevant interested party the name and contact details of any person connected with the import or proposed export (as the case may be) of the seized goods.

Compulsory release of seized goods to dealer

67E.—(1) The Director-General must release the seized goods to the dealer as soon as possible after the date of expiry of the period specified in the notice under section 67B(1) (including any extension of that period under section 59(6) as applied by section 67B(2)), if the relevant interested party has not, before that date —

(a) instituted an infringement action in respect of the goods; and

(b) given written notice to the Director-General stating that the action has been instituted.

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(2) If —

(a) an infringement action has been instituted in respect of the seized goods; and

(b) on the 22nd day after the day on which the action was instituted, there is not in force an order of the Court preventing the release of the goods,

the Director-General must release the goods to the dealer as soon as possible after the firstmentioned day.

(3) If the relevant interested party gives a written notice to the Director-General stating that the relevant interested party consents to the release of the seized goods, the Director- General must release the goods to the dealer as soon as possible.

Provisions relating to infringement action

67F. Section 63 applies in relation to an infringement action concerning goods seized under section 67, as it applies in relation to an infringement action concerning goods seized under section 56(4), with the following modifications:

(a) replace a reference to the requestor with a reference to the relevant interested party;

(b) replace a reference to the importer or exporter with a reference to the dealer.

Compensation for failure to take action

67G.—(1) Where —

(a) goods have been seized under section 67;

(b) the goods continue to be detained because section 67A(1)(a) and (b) has been satisfied; and

(c) the relevant interested party fails to take infringement action within the period specified in the notice under section 67B(1) (including any extension of that period under section 59(6) as applied by section 67B(2)),

a person aggrieved by the seizure may apply to the Court for an order of compensation against the relevant interested party.

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(2) Where the Court is satisfied that the applicant has suffered loss or damage as a result of the seizure of the goods, the Court may order the relevant interested party to pay to the applicant compensation of such amount as the Court thinks fit.

Retention of control of seized goods

67H. Despite section 67E and any rule made under section 67A(4)(c), in a case in which no order has been made under section 63(3) (as applied by section 67F) in relation to the seized goods, the Director-General is not obliged to release or dispose of the goods if the Government is required or permitted, under any other law, to retain control of the goods.

Disposal of seized goods

67I. Section 65 applies in relation to goods seized under section 67, as it applies in relation to goods seized under section 56(4), with a reference to the importer or exporter replaced with a reference to the dealer.

Insufficient security

67J.—(1) If the reasonable expenses incurred by the Director- General in relation to any action taken by the Director-General under this Division, or taken in accordance with an order of the Court under this Division, exceed the amount deposited, or the amount of the security given, under section 67A, the amount of the excess is a debt due to the Government.

(2) The debt created by subsection (1) is due by the relevant interested party or, if there are 2 or more relevant interested parties, by them jointly and severally.”.

Deletion and substitution of Division heading of Part VI

48. Part VI of the principal Act is amended by deleting the heading of Division 2 and substituting the following Division heading:

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“Division 4 — Powers of inspection”.

Amendment of section 68

49. Section 68(1) of the principal Act is amended by deleting the word “detained” and substituting the word “seized”.

Amendment of section 69

50. Section 69 of the principal Act is amended —

(a) by deleting the words “detained under” in subsection (1) and substituting the words “seized under”;

(b) by inserting, immediately after the words “subjected to such” in subsection (1)(b), the words “infringement verification,”; and

“(5) In this section, “infringement verification” means any process (whether or not involving an interested party of the geographical indication concerned) to determine if any article is or contains goods liable to be seized under section 56(4) or 67.”.

Amendment of section 71

51. Section 71(1) of the principal Act is amended by deleting the word “detained” wherever it appears in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) and substituting in each case the word “seized”.

Amendment of section 74

52. Section 74 of the principal Act is amended by deleting the words “or any officer or employee of the Government” and substituting the words “, an authorised officer, a senior authorised officer, or any person”.

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PART 3

AMENDMENTS TO REGISTERED DESIGNS ACT

New Part VIA

53. The Registered Designs Act (Cap. 266) is amended by inserting, immediately after section 68, the following Part:

“PART VIA

ASSISTANCE BY BORDER AUTHORITIES

Division 1 — Preliminary provisions

Interpretation of this Part

68A. In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires —

“aircraft” has the same meaning as in section 2(1) of the Regulation of Imports and Exports Act (Cap. 272A);

“authorised officer” means —

(a) an officer of customs as defined in section 3(1) of the Customs Act (Cap. 70); or

(b) any officer or class or description of officers appointed by the Minister by notification in the Gazette to exercise the powers and perform the duties conferred and imposed on an authorised officer by this Part;

“conveyance” has the same meaning as in section 2(1) of the Regulation of Imports and Exports Act;

“Director-General” means the Director-General of Customs appointed under section 4(1) of the Customs Act;

“goods in transit” means goods imported, whether or not landed or transhipped within Singapore, which are to be carried to another country either by the same or another conveyance;

“infringement action”means an action for an infringement of a registered design;

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“infringing article” means an article in respect of which a design is registered and to which the design, or a design not substantially different from that design, has been applied, where —

(a) the article is made in Singapore without the consent of the registered owner and in a way that infringes the design; or

(b) the article is made in another country or territory without the consent of the registered owner and in a way that, had it been made in Singapore, would have infringed the design;

“infringing device” means a device for projecting a non- physical product, being a non-physical product in respect of which a design is registered and to which the design or a design not substantially different from that design, has been applied, where —

(a) the device is made in Singapore without the consent of the registered owner and in a way that infringes the design; or

(b) the device is made in another country or territory without the consent of the registered owner and in a way that, had it been made in Singapore, would have infringed the design;

“infringing goods” means an infringing article or infringing device;

“owner”, in relation to the registered design, means the registered owner of the registered design and includes an exclusive licensee of the registered design;

“requestor” means a person who gives a written notice under section 68D(1) to the Director-General;

“retention period”, in relation to seized goods, means —

(a) the period specified in a notice given under section 68G(2) in respect of those goods; or

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(b) if that period has been extended under section 68G(6), that period as so extended;

“seized goods” means goods seized under section 68D(4);

“senior authorised officer” means —

(a) a senior officer of customs as defined in section 3(1) of the Customs Act; or

“vehicle” and “vessel” have the respective meanings given by section 2(1) of the Regulation of Imports and Exports Act.

Delegation of Director-General’s powers

68B. The Director-General may delegate to a senior officer of customs (within the meaning of section 3(1) of the Customs Act (Cap. 70)) any of the powers of the Director-General under this Part (except the power of delegation conferred by this section), subject to such conditions or restrictions as the Director- General may determine.

Fees

68C.—(1) The Minister charged with the responsibility for customs duties may make rules to prescribe the fees payable to the Director-General in connection with the administration of this Part.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), rules may be made to prescribe the fees for the following purposes:

(a) for the escort of a conveyance conveying seized goods;

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(b) for the attendance of an authorised officer or a senior authorised officer in connection with the inspection or destruction of seized goods;

(c) for the attendance of an authorised officer or a senior authorised officer in connection with any other act or service under this Part.

Division 2 — Seizure of goods on request

Request for seizure of infringing goods

68D.—(1) The owner of a registered design may give the Director-General a written notice —

(a) stating that the owner is —

(i) the registered owner of the registered design; or

(ii) the exclusive licensee of the registered design;

(b) stating that goods that are infringing goods in relation to the registered design are expected to be imported or exported;

(i) to identify the goods;

(ii) to enable the Director-General to ascertain when and where the goods are expected to be imported or exported, as the case may be; and

(iii) to satisfy the Director-General that the goods are infringing goods in relation to the registered design; and

(d) requesting the Director-General to seize the goods.

(2) A notice under subsection (1) must be —

(a) in the form determined by the Director-General, and supported by such documents and information as the Director-General may require; and

(b) accompanied by the fee prescribed under section 68C.

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(3) A notice under subsection (1) remains in force until the 59th day after the day on which the notice was given, unless it is revoked, before the end of that period, by a written notice given to the Director-General by the requestor.

(4) If —

(a) a notice has been given under subsection (1) in respect of a registered design;

(b) the notice has not lapsed or been revoked; and

(c) a person imports or proposes to export goods, not being goods in transit, that, in the opinion of an authorised officer, are infringing goods in relation to the registered design in question,

an authorised officer may seize the goods.

(5) The Minister may make rules that are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Division, and in particular to provide —

(a) for the times at which, and the manner in which, notices are to be given;

(b) for the giving of information and evidence to the Director-General; and

(c) that an authorised officer may refuse to seize any goods because of non-compliance with any direction of the Director-General or any such rule.

Security for liability or expense of seizure, storage and disposal

68E. An authorised officer may refuse to seize goods under section 68D unless the requestor —

(a) deposits with the Director-General a sum of money that, in the opinion of the Director-General, is sufficient; or

(b) gives security, to the satisfaction of the Director- General,

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for the reimbursement to the Government of any liability or reasonable expense it is likely to incur in relation to the seizure, storage and disposal of the goods, and for the payment of such compensation as may be ordered by the Court under section 68M(2) or 68N(6).

Secure storage of seized goods

68F. At the Director-General’s direction, seized goods must be taken to a secure place the Director-General directs, either by the person in possession, custody or control of those goods immediately before the seizure or the requestor, whoever the Director-General considers appropriate.

Notice of seizure

68G.—(1) As soon as is practicable after goods are seized under section 68D, the Director-General must give to the importer or exporter (as the case may be), and the requestor, personally, by post or (with the prior consent of the addressee) by email, a written notice identifying the goods and stating that they have been seized.

(2) A notice under subsection (1) must state that the goods will be released to the importer or exporter (as the case may be) unless —

(a) an infringement action in respect of the goods is instituted by the requestor within a specified period after the day specified in the notice; and

(b) the requestor gives written notice to the Director- General within that period stating that the infringement action has been instituted.

(3) The period to be specified for the purposes of subsection (2)(a) is the period prescribed for the purposes of that provision.

(4) The day specified for the purposes of subsection (2)(a) must not be earlier than the day on which the notice is given.

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(5) The requestor may, by written notice given to the Director- General before the end of the period specified in a notice for the purposes of subsection (2)(a) (called in this section the initial period), request that the period be extended.

(6) Subject to subsection (7), if —

(a) a request is made in accordance with subsection (5); and

(b) the Director-General is satisfied that it is reasonable that the request be granted,

the Director-General may extend the initial period by such period as is prescribed.

(7) A decision on a request made in accordance with subsection (5) must be made within 2 working days after the request is made, but such a decision cannot be made after the end of the initial period to which the request relates.

Persons bound to give information or produce documents

68H.—(1) At any time after goods have been seized under section 68D, an authorised officer or a senior authorised officer who has reasonable cause to believe that a person has any information or document that the officer considers is relevant for any of the purposes in subsection (2), may require that person to provide to the officer that information or document at a time and place specified by the officer.

(2) The purposes mentioned in subsection (1) are —

(a) to enable the Director-General to satisfy a request under section 68I (whether or not such a request has actually been received);

(b) to enable any action to be taken under this Division in relation to future shipments of goods; and

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(3) A person who —

(a) without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a requirement under subsection (1); or

(b) in purported compliance with such requirement, knowingly or recklessly provides any information or document that is false or misleading in a material particular,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $6,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.

(4) A person is not excused from providing any information or document in compliance with a requirement under subsection (1) on the ground that it might tend to incriminate the person.

Information on import or export

68I.—(1) After goods have been seized under section 68D, the Director-General may, upon the request of the requestor, and if the Director-General is satisfied that the information is necessary to enable the requestor to institute an infringement action, give the requestor the name and contact details of any

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person connected with the import or proposed export (as the case may be) of the seized goods.

Inspection of seized goods

68J.—(1) The Director-General may permit the requestor, or the importer or exporter (as the case may be), to inspect the seized goods.

(2) If the requestor gives the Director-General the requisite undertakings, the Director-General may permit the requestor to remove a sample of the seized goods from the custody of the Director-General for inspection by the requestor.

(3) If the importer or exporter (as the case may be) gives the Director-General the requisite undertakings, the Director- General may permit the importer or exporter to remove a sample of the seized goods from the custody of the Director- General for inspection by the importer or exporter.

(4) The requisite undertakings are undertakings in writing that the person giving the undertaking will —

(a) return the sample to the Director-General at a specified time that is satisfactory to the Director- General; and

(b) take reasonable care to prevent damage to the sample.

(5) If the Director-General permits inspection of the seized goods, or the removal of a sample, by the requestor in accordance with this section, the Director-General is not liable to the importer or exporter (as the case may be) for any loss or damage suffered by the importer or exporter (as the case may be) arising out of —

(a) damage to any of the seized goods incurred during that inspection; or

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(b) anything done by the requestor or any other person to, or in relation to, the sample removed from the custody of the Director-General or any use made by the requestor of such a sample.

Forfeiture of seized goods by consent

68K.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), the importer or exporter (as the case may be) may, by written notice and the giving of the prescribed written undertakings to the Director-General, consent to the seized goods being forfeited to the Government.

(2) The notice in subsection (1) must be given before any infringement action in relation to the seized goods is instituted.

(3) If the importer or exporter (as the case may be) satisfies the requirements of subsection (1), the seized goods are forfeited to the Government and must be disposed of —

(a) in the manner prescribed by rules made under this Act; or

(b) if no manner of disposal is so prescribed, as the Director-General directs.

Compulsory release of seized goods to importer or exporter

68L.—(1) The Director-General must release the seized goods (not being goods forfeited to the Government under section 68K) to the importer or exporter (as the case may be) as soon as possible after the date of expiry of the retention period for the goods if the requestor has not, before that date —

(a) instituted an infringement action in relation to the goods; and

(b) given written notice to the Director-General stating that the infringement action has been instituted.

(2) If —

(a) an infringement action has been instituted in relation to the seized goods; and

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(b) on the 22nd day after the day on which the action was instituted, there is not in force an order of the Court in which the action was instituted preventing the release of the goods,

the Director-General must release the goods to the importer or exporter (as the case may be) as soon as possible after the firstmentioned day.

(3) If the requestor gives written notice to the Director- General stating that the requestor consents to the release of the seized goods, the Director-General must release the goods to the importer or exporter (as the case may be) as soon as possible.

(4) This section has effect subject to section 68O.

Compensation for failure to take action

68M.—(1) Where goods have been seized pursuant to a notice given under section 68D(1) and the requestor concerned fails to take infringement action within the retention period for the goods, a person aggrieved by such seizure may apply to the Court for an order of compensation against the requestor.

(2) Where the Court is satisfied that the plaintiff to an action under this section had suffered loss or damage as a result of the seizure of the goods, the Court may order the requestor to pay compensation in such amount as the Court thinks fit to the plaintiff.

Infringement actions

68N.—(1) The Court in which an infringement action is pending may, on the application of a person having a sufficient interest in the subject matter of the action, allow the person to be joined as a defendant to the action.

(2) An authorised officer is entitled to be heard on the hearing of an infringement action.

(3) In addition to any relief that may be granted apart from this section, the Court may —

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(a) at any time, order that the seized goods be released to the importer or exporter (as the case may be) subject to such conditions, if any, as the Court thinks fit;

(b) order that the seized goods not be released to the importer or exporter (as the case may be) before the end of a specified period; or

(4) The Court may not make an order under subsection (3)(a) if it is satisfied that the Government or any statutory authority is required or permitted under any other law to retain control of the seized goods.

(5) The Director-General must comply with an order made under subsection (3).

(6) If —

(a) the infringement action is dismissed or discontinued, or the Court decides that the relevant registered design was not infringed; and

(b) a defendant to the infringement action satisfies the Court that the defendant has suffered loss or damage as a result of the seizure of the goods,

the Court may order the requestor to pay compensation in such amount as the Court thinks fit to that defendant.

Retention of control of seized goods

68O. Despite section 68L, in a case in which no order has been made under section 68N(3) in relation to the seized goods, the Director-General is not obliged to release or dispose of the goods if the Government is required or permitted, under any other law, to retain control of the goods.

Disposal of seized goods

68P.—(1) If the Court orders that seized goods are to be forfeited to the Government, the goods must be disposed of —

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(a) in the manner prescribed by rules made under this Act; or

(b) if no manner of disposal is so prescribed, as the Director-General directs.

(2) If —

(a) the Director-General gives to the importer or exporter a written notice of the release of seized goods; and

(b) the importer or exporter fails to take custody of the seized goods within the period specified in the notice,

the Director-General may dispose of the goods —

(i) in the manner prescribed by rules made under this Act; or

(ii) if no manner of disposal is so prescribed, as the Director-General directs.

Insufficient security

68Q.—(1) If the reasonable expenses incurred by the Director-General in relation to any action taken by the Director-General under this Division, or taken in accordance with an order of the Court under this Division exceed the amount deposited, or the amount of the security given, under section 68E, the amount of the excess is a debt due to the Government.

(2) The debt created by subsection (1) is due by the requestor, or, if there are 2 or more requestors, by the requestors jointly and severally.

Division 3 — Powers of inspection

Powers of inspection in relation to vehicles

68R.—(1) A senior authorised officer, or an authorised officer acting in accordance with the general or special directions of a senior authorised officer, may board any vehicle in Singapore

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and may inspect all parts of the vehicle for goods liable to be seized under section 68D.

(2) For the more effective exercise of the powers conferred by this section, a senior authorised officer or an authorised officer may require the person in charge of a vehicle —

(a) to stop and not to proceed until so authorised; or

(b) to bring the vehicle to any examination station.

(3) It is presumed in any proceedings arising out of anything done under this section, unless the contrary is proved, that any authorised officer, not being a senior authorised officer, by whom the thing was done was acting in accordance with the general or special direction of a senior authorised officer.

(4) Any person who contravenes this section or who fails to comply with any lawful requisition or direction given or made under this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $6,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.

Examination of packages, etc.

68S.—(1) Any goods, package, box, chest or other article which is being or has recently been imported, or is being exported, and in regard to which a reasonable suspicion exists that it is or that it contains goods liable to be seized under section 68D may be —

(a) examined and inspected by an authorised officer or detained until any person in charge of it has opened it for examination and inspection;

(b) subjected to such infringement verification, or tests or analysis as the authorised officer thinks fit; or

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subsection (1) to open the package, box, chest or article (as the case may be) for examination and inspection.

(3) If the person in charge of the package, box, chest or other article mentioned in subsection (1) refuses, or fails after being given reasonable time and opportunity, to comply with the requirement under subsection (2), a senior authorised officer, or an authorised officer acting in accordance with an order of a senior authorised officer, may forcibly open the package, box, chest or article to facilitate the examination and inspection of it.

(4) Any person, other than an authorised officer, who removes, opens, breaks or tampers with any mark, lock, seal or other means of securing any goods, package, box, chest or other article mentioned in subsection (1)(c) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $6,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.

(5) In this section, “infringement verification” means any process (whether involving the owner of the registered design concerned or not) to determine if any article is or contains goods liable to be seized under section 68D(4).

Power to remove packages and goods to examination station

68T.—(1) For the more convenient exercise of the powers conferred by section 68S, an authorised officer may remove any package, box, chest or other article or any goods to an examination station or may require it to be so removed by the owner of it or the owner’s agent or any person having the custody, charge or control of it.

(2) A person who fails to comply with such requirement shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $6,000.

(3) Upon the failure by a person to comply with such requirement, an authorised officer may remove the package, box, chest, article or goods in the manner provided by subsection (1), and all the expenses of such removal (as

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certified by a senior authorised officer) are recoverable as a fine from that person or from the owner of the package, box, chest, article or goods.

Inspection of baggage and belongings on person

68U.—(1) Any person landing or being about to land or having recently landed from any vessel or aircraft, or leaving any vessel or aircraft in Singapore whether for the purpose of landing or otherwise, or entering or having recently entered Singapore by land, sea or air, must —

(a) on demand by an authorised officer, either permit the person’s goods and baggage to be inspected by the officer for any goods liable to be seized under section 68D or, together with the goods and baggage, accompany the officer to an examination station, and there permit those goods and baggage to be inspected in the presence and under the supervision of a senior authorised officer for any goods liable to be seized under section 68D;

(b) on demand by a senior authorised officer, permit the person’s goods and baggage to be inspected by the officer, or in the presence and under the supervision of the officer, for any goods liable to be seized under section 68D; or

(c) on demand by a senior authorised officer, remove belongings kept in or under the clothing of the person, for inspection for any goods liable to be seized under section 68D.

(2) The goods and baggage of any person who requests to be present when they are inspected must not be inspected except in the person’s presence, unless the person fails to be present after being given reasonable facility for being present.

(3) Any person who refuses or fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with any lawful demand made under this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on

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conviction to a fine not exceeding $6,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to both.

Powers of authorised officers to enter certain premises

68V.—(1) For the purpose of exercising the powers conferred by sections 68R to 68U, an authorised officer may, without warrant, enter upon —

(a) any islet, landing place, wharf, dock, railway or quay;

(b) any premises of a provider of port services or facilities licensed or exempted under the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore Act (Cap. 170A); or

(c) any premises of any airport operated under a licence or exemption under the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore Act (Cap. 41).

(2) In this section, “railway” has the meaning given by the Railways Act (Cap. 263).

Division 4 — Miscellaneous provisions

Obstruction

68W. Any person who —

(a) refuses any authorised officer or senior authorised officer access to any vehicle or place which the officer is entitled to under this Part; or

(b) obstructs or hinders any authorised officer or senior authorised officer in the execution of any power conferred on that officer by this Part,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $15,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.

Protection from personal liability

68X. No liability shall lie personally against the Director- General, an authorised officer, a senior authorised officer, or any person acting under the direction of the Director-General

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for anything done or omitted to be done with reasonable care and in good faith in the course of or in connection with —

(a) the exercise or purported exercise of any power under this Part;

(b) the performance or purported performance of any function or the discharge or purported discharge of any duty under this Part; or

Amendment of section 73

54. Section 73 of the Registered Designs Act is amended by inserting, immediately after subsection (3), the following subsection:

“(4) Subsection (2) does not apply to fees prescribed for the purposes of Part VIA.”.

PART 4

AMENDMENTS TO TRADE MARKS ACT

Division 1 — Phase 1 Amendments

New section 81A

55. The Trade Marks Act (Cap. 332) (called in this Part the principal Act) is amended by inserting, immediately after section 81, the following section:

“Delegation of Director-General’s powers

81A. The Director-General may delegate to a senior officer of customs (within the meaning of section 3(1) of the Customs Act (Cap. 70)) any of the powers of the Director-General under this Part (except the power of delegation conferred by this section), subject to such conditions or restrictions as the Director-General may determine.”.

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Amendment of section 83

56. Section 83 of the principal Act is amended —

(a) by deleting the words “or expense it is likely to incur as a result of the seizure of the goods” in paragraph (a)(i) and substituting the words “or reasonable expense it is likely to incur in relation to the seizure, storage and disposal of the goods”; and

(b) by inserting, immediately after the word “seizure” in the section heading, the words “, storage and disposal”.

New sections 85A and 85B

57. The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 85, the following sections:

“Persons bound to give information or produce documents

85A.—(1) At any time after goods have been seized under section 82(4), an authorised officer or a senior authorised officer who has reasonable cause to believe that a person has any information or document that the officer considers is relevant for any of the purposes in subsection (2), may require that person to provide to the officer that information or document at a time and place specified by the officer.

(2) The purposes mentioned in subsection (1) are —

(a) to enable the Director-General to satisfy a request under section 85B (whether or not such a request has actually been received);

(b) to enable any action to be taken under this Part in relation to future shipments of goods; and

(3) A person who —

(a) without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a requirement under subsection (1); or

(b) in purported compliance with such requirement, knowingly or recklessly provides any information

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or document that is false or misleading in a material particular,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $6,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.

(4) A person is not excused from providing any information or document in compliance with a requirement under subsection (1) on the ground that it might tend to incriminate the person.

Information on import

85B.—(1) After goods have been seized under section 82(4), the Director-General may, upon the request of the objector, and if the Director-General is satisfied that the information is necessary to enable the objector to institute an infringement action, give the objector the name and contact details of any person connected with the import of the seized goods.

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Amendment of section 87

58. Section 87 of the principal Act is amended —

(a) by inserting, immediately after the words “by written notice” in subsection (1), the words “and the giving of the prescribed written undertakings”; and

(b) by deleting the words “gives such a notice” in subsection (3) and substituting the words “satisfies the requirements of subsection (1)”.

Amendment of section 92

59. Section 92 of the principal Act is amended —

(a) by renumbering the section as subsection (1) of that section, and by inserting immediately thereafter the following subsection:

“(2) If —

(a) the Director-General gives to the importer a written notice of the release of seized goods; and

(b) the importer fails to take custody of the seized goods within the period specified in the notice,

the Director-General may dispose of the goods —

(i) in the manner prescribed by rules made under this Act; or

(ii) if no manner of disposal is so prescribed, as the Director-General directs.”; and

(b) by deleting the words “ordered to be forfeited” in the section heading.

Amendment of section 93A

60. Section 93A of the principal Act is amended —

(a) by inserting, immediately after subsection (2), the following subsections:

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“(2A) At any time after goods have been detained under subsection (1)(a), an authorised officer or a senior authorised officer who has reasonable cause to believe that a person has any information or document that the officer considers is relevant for any of the purposes in subsection (2B), may require that person to provide to the officer that information or document at a time and place specified by the officer.

(2B) The purposes mentioned in subsection (2A) are —

(a) to enable the Director-General to satisfy a request under subsection (2H) (whether or not such a request has actually been received);

(b) to enable any action to be taken under this Part in relation to future shipments of goods; and

(2C) A person who —

(a) without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a requirement under subsection (2A); or

(b) in purported compliance with such requirement, knowingly or recklessly provides any information or document that is false or misleading in a material particular,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $6,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.

(2D) A person is not excused from providing any information or document in compliance with a

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requirement under subsection (2A) on the ground that it might tend to incriminate the person.

(2H) The Director-General may, upon the request of the proprietor of the registered trade mark, and if the Director-General is satisfied that the information is necessary to enable the proprietor to institute an infringement action, give the proprietor the name and contact details of any person connected with the import or proposed export (as the case may be) of the detained goods.

(2I) However, no disclosure under subsection (2H) is permitted unless the proprietor of the registered trade mark to whom disclosure is to be made —

(a) in the case of goods that are imported into Singapore and that are not goods in transit, has carried out the acts in subsection (3)(a)(i), (ii) and (iii); or

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(b) in the case of goods that are to be exported from Singapore or goods that are goods in transit and consigned to a person with a commercial or physical presence in Singapore —

(i) satisfies the Director-General that the trade mark concerned is a registered trade mark and that he is the proprietor of it; and

(ii) has carried out the act mentioned in subsection (3)(b)(iii).

(b) by deleting the words “or expense it has incurred and is likely to further incur as a result of the detention of the goods” in subsection (3)(b)(iii)(A) and substituting the words “or reasonable expense it has incurred and is likely to further incur in relation to the detention, storage and disposal of the goods”.

Division 2 — Phase 2 Amendments

Deletion of heading and new Division heading of Part X

61. Part X of the principal Act is amended by deleting the heading immediately above section 81 and substituting the following Division heading:

“Division 1 — Preliminary provisions”.

Amendment of section 81

62. Section 81 of the principal Act is amended —

(a) by deleting the words “the importation of” in the definition of “infringement action” and substituting the words “any

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use of a sign (within the meaning of section 27(4)) in relation to the”;

(b) by deleting the definition of “objector”; and

“ “requestor”, in relation to particular seized goods, means the person who gave the written notice under section 82(1) as a result of the giving of which the goods were seized;”.

New section 81B

63. The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 81A as inserted by section 55, the following section:

“Fees

81B.—(1) The Minister charged with the responsibility for customs duties may make rules to prescribe the fees payable to the Director-General in connection with the administration of this Part.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), rules may be made to prescribe fees for the following purposes:

(a) for the escort of a conveyance conveying goods seized under section 82(4) or 93A;

(b) for the attendance of an authorised officer or a senior authorised officer in connection with the inspection or destruction of such seized goods;

(c) for the attendance of an authorised officer or a senior authorised officer in connection with any other act or service under this Part.”.

New Division heading of Part X

64. Part X of the principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately above section 82, the following Division heading:

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“Division 2 — Seizure of goods on request”.

Amendment of section 82

65. Section 82 of the principal Act is amended —

(a) by inserting, immediately after the words “be imported” in subsection (1)(b) and (c)(ii), the words “or exported”;

(b) by deleting paragraph (d) of subsection (1) and substituting the following paragraph:

“(d) requesting the Director-General to seize the goods.”;

“(2) A notice under subsection (1) must be —

(a) in the form determined by the Director- General, and supported by such documents and information as the Director-General may require; and

(b) accompanied by the fee prescribed under section 81B.”;

(d) by deleting the words “the end of the period of 60 days commencing on” in subsection (3) and substituting the words “the 59th day after”;

(e) by inserting, immediately after the words “a person imports” in subsection (4)(c), the words “or proposes to export”;

(f) by deleting subsection (5) and substituting the following subsection:

“(5) TheMinister maymake rules that are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Division, and in particular to provide —

(a) for the times at which, and the manner in which, notices are to be given;

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(b) for the giving of information and evidence to the Director-General; and

(c) that an authorised officer may refuse to seize any goods because of non- compliance with any direction of the Director-General or any such rule.”; and

(g) by inserting, immediately after the word “importation” in the section heading, the words “or exportation”.

Amendment of section 83

66. Section 83 of the principal Act, as amended by section 56, is amended by deleting the word “objector” in paragraphs (a) and (b) and substituting in each case the word “requestor”.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 84

67. Section 84 of the principal Act is repealed and the following section substituted therefor:

“Secure storage of seized goods

84. At the Director-General’s direction, seized goods must be taken to a secure place the Director-General directs, either by the person in possession, custody or control of those goods immediately before the seizure or the requestor, whoever the Director-General considers appropriate.”.

Amendment of section 85

68. Section 85 of the principal Act is amended —

(b) by inserting, immediately after the words “the importer” in subsection (2), the words “or exporter”;

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(c) by deleting the word “objector” in subsections (2)(a) and (b) and (5) and substituting in each case the word “requestor”; and

(d) by deleting the word “from” in subsection (2)(a) and substituting the word “after”.

Amendment of section 85A

69. Section 85A(2) of the principal Act, as inserted by section 57, is amended by deleting the words “this Part” in paragraph (b) and substituting the words “this Division or Division 3”.

Amendment of section 85B

70. Section 85B(1) of the principal Act, as inserted by section 57, is amended —

(a) by deleting the word “objector” wherever it appears and substituting the word “requestor”;

(b) by inserting, immediately after the word “import”, the words “or proposed export (as the case may be)”; and

Amendment of section 86

71. Section 86 of the principal Act is amended —

(a) by deleting the word “objector” wherever it appears in subsections (1), (2) and (5) and substituting in each case the word “requestor”;

(b) by inserting, immediately after the words “the importer” in subsection (1), the words “or exporter (as the case may be)”;

(c) by inserting, immediately after the words “If the importer” in subsection (3), the words “or exporter (as the case may be)”;

(d) by inserting, immediately after the words “permit the importer” in subsection (3), the words “or exporter”;

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(e) by inserting, immediately after the words “by the importer” in subsection (3), the words “or exporter”; and

(f) by inserting, immediately after the words “the importer” wherever they appear in subsection (5), the words “or exporter”.

Amendment of section 87

72. Section 87 of the principal Act, as amended by section 58, is amended —

(a) by inserting, immediately after the word “importer” in subsection (1), the words “or exporter (as the case may be)”; and

(b) by inserting, immediately after the word “importer” in subsection (3), the words “or exporter”.

Amendment of section 88

73. Section 88 of the principal Act is amended —

(a) by inserting, immediately after the words “the importer” in subsection (1), the words “or exporter (as the case may be)”;

(b) by deleting the words “on the expiration” in subsection (1) and substituting the words “as soon as possible after the expiration”;

(d) by deleting the words “at the end of a period of 3 weeks commencing on” in subsection (2)(b) and substituting the words “on the 22nd day after”;

(e) by inserting, immediately after the words “to the importer” in subsection (2), the words “or exporter (as the case may be) as soon as possible after the firstmentioned day”;

(f) by inserting, immediately after the words “to the importer” in subsection (3), the words “or exporter (as the case may be) as soon as possible”; and

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(g) by inserting, immediately after the word “importer” in the section heading, the words “or exporter”.

Amendment of section 89

74. Section 89 of the principal Act is amended by deleting the word “objector” wherever it appears and substituting in each case the word “requestor”.

Amendment of section 90

75. Section 90 of the principal Act is amended —

(a) by inserting, immediately after the words “the importer” in subsection (3)(a) and (b), the words “or exporter (as the case may be)”;

(b) by deleting the words “the importation of the” in subsection (6)(a) and substituting the words “the use of a sign (within the meaning of section 27(4)) in relation to the”; and

Amendment of section 92

76. Section 92(2) of the principal Act, as inserted by section 59, is amended by inserting, immediately after the word “importer” wherever it appears in paragraphs (a) and (b), the words “or exporter”.

Amendment of section 93

77. Section 93 of the principal Act is amended —

(a) by deleting the word “Part” wherever it appears in subsection (1) and substituting in each case the word “Division”;

(b) by deleting the word “objector” in subsection (2) and substituting the word “requestor”; and

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(c) by deleting the word “objectors” wherever it appears in subsection (2) and substituting in each case the word “requestors”.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 93A and new sections 93B to 93L

78. Section 93A of the principal Act, as amended by section 60, is repealed and the following Division heading and sections substituted therefor:

“Division 3 — Ex-officio seizure of goods

Seizure and inspection of counterfeit goods

93A.—(1) Despite section 82(4), an authorised officer may—

(a) examine any goods to which this subsection applies, including goods in transit; or

(b) seize any goods to which this subsection applies —

(i) that are imported into, or that are to be exported from, Singapore; and

(ii) that are not goods in transit, unless they are consigned to a person with a commercial or physical presence in Singapore.

(2) Subsection (1) applies to goods that the authorised officer reasonably suspects are counterfeit goods in relation to a registered trade mark.

(3) As soon as practicable after the goods are seized under subsection (1)(b), the Director-General must give personally, by post or (with the prior consent of the addressee) by email, a written notice to —

(a) the importer, exporter or consignee (as the case may be) of the seized goods (called in this Division the dealer); and

(b) the proprietor of the registered trade mark.

(4) The written notice in subsection (3) must —

(a) identify the goods seized; and

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(b) set out the rights of the dealer in section 86 (as applied by subsection (5)), and the requirements in section 93B.

(5) Section 86 (which provides for the inspection of seized goods) applies in relation to the seized goods as it applies in relation to goods seized under section 82(4), with the following modifications:

(a) replace a reference to the requestor with a reference to the proprietor of the registered trade mark;

(b) replace a reference to the importer or exporter with a reference to the dealer.

(6) At the Director-General’s direction, seized goods must be taken to a secure place the Director-General directs by such of the following as the Director-General considers appropriate:

(a) the person in possession, custody or control of those goods immediately before the seizure;

(b) the proprietor of the registered trade mark (but only if the proprietor has satisfied section 93B(1)(a) and (b)).

Requirements for continued detention

93B.—(1) If the proprietor of the registered trade mark wants the Director-General to continue to detain the seized goods so that the proprietor may institute an infringement action in relation to them, the proprietor must, within the prescribed period after the date of the notice in section 93A(3) —

(b) either —

(i) deposit with the Director-General a sum of money that, in the Director-General’s opinion,

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is sufficient for the purpose mentioned in subsection (2); or

(ii) give security to the Director-General’s satisfaction for such purpose,

unless the proprietor had earlier given such deposit or security to the Director-General and the deposit had not been forfeited or returned or the security is still effective.

(2) The purpose in subsection (1) is the reimbursement to the Government of —

(a) any liability or reasonable expense it is likely to incur in relation to the seizure, storage and disposal of the goods; and

(b) the payment of such compensation as the Court may order under section 93I or section 90(6) (as applied by section 93H).

(3) If subsection (1) is not satisfied, the Director-General must release the seized goods to the dealer.

(4) The Minister may make rules that are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Division, and in particular to provide —

(a) for the times at which, and the manner in which, notices are to be given;

(b) for the giving of information and evidence to the Director-General; and

(c) that the Director-General may release any seized goods to the dealer concerned because of non- compliance with any direction of the Director- General or any such rule.

Notice to take action

93C.—(1) If section 93B(1)(a) and (b) has been satisfied by the proprietor of the registered trade mark, the Director-General must, as soon as practicable, give to the proprietor and the dealer

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personally, by post or (with the prior consent of the addressee) by email, a written notice that states that the goods will be released to the dealer unless —

(a) an infringement action in relation to the goods is instituted by the proprietor within a prescribed period after the day specified in the notice; and

(b) the proprietor gives written notice to the Director- General within that period stating that such action has been instituted.

(2) Section 85(4) to (7) applies in relation to a notice under subsection (1) as it applies in relation to a notice under section 85(1), as if a reference to the requestor is a reference to the proprietor of the registered trade mark.

Persons bound to give information or produce documents

93D.—(1) At any time after goods have been seized under section 93A, an authorised officer or a senior authorised officer who has reasonable cause to believe that a person has any information or document that the officer considers is relevant for any of the purposes in subsection (2), may require that person to provide to the officer that information or document at a time and place specified by the officer.

(2) The purposes mentioned in subsection (1) are —

(a) to enable the Director-General to satisfy a request under section 93E (whether or not such a request has actually been received);

(b) to enable any action to be taken under this Division or Division 2 in relation to future shipments of goods; and

(3) A person who —

(a) without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a requirement under subsection (1); or

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(b) in purported compliance with such requirement, knowingly or recklessly provides any information or document that is false or misleading in a material particular,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $6,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.

(4) A person is not excused from providing any information or document in compliance with a requirement under subsection (1) on the ground that it might tend to incriminate the person.

Information on import or export

93E.—(1) After section 93B(1)(a) and (b) has been satisfied by the proprietor of the registered trade mark, the Director- General may, upon the request of the proprietor, and if the Director-General is satisfied that the information is necessary to enable the proprietor to institute an infringement action, give the proprietor the name and contact details of any person connected with the import or proposed export (as the case may be) of the seized goods.

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Forfeiture of seized goods by consent

93F.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), the dealer may, by written notice and the giving of the prescribed written undertakings to the Director-General, consent to the seized goods being forfeited to the Government.

(2) The notice must be given before any infringement action in relation to the goods is instituted.

(3) If the dealer satisfies the requirements of subsection (1), the goods are forfeited to the Government and must be disposed of —

(a) in the manner prescribed by rules made under this Act; or

(b) if no manner of disposal is so prescribed, as the Director-General directs.

Compulsory release of seized goods to dealer

93G.—(1) The Director-General must release the seized goods (not being goods forfeited to the Government under section 93F) to the dealer as soon as possible after the date of expiry of the period specified in the notice under section 93C(1) (including any extension of that period under section 85(6) as applied by section 93C(2)), if the proprietor of the registered trade mark has not, before that date —

(a) instituted an infringement action in respect of the goods; and

(b) given written notice to the Director-General stating that the action has been instituted.

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(2) If —

(a) an infringement action has been instituted in respect of the seized goods; and

(b) on the 22nd day after the day on which the action was instituted, there is not in force an order of the Court preventing the release of the goods,

the Director-General must release the goods to the dealer as soon as possible after the firstmentioned day.

(3) If the proprietor of the registered trade mark gives a written notice to the Director-General stating that the proprietor consents to the release of the seized goods, the Director- General must release the goods to the dealer as soon as possible.

Provisions relating to infringement action

93H. Section 90 applies in relation to an infringement action concerning goods seized under section 93A, as it applies in relation to an infringement action concerning goods seized under section 82(4), with the following modifications:

(a) replace a reference to the requestor with a reference to the proprietor of the registered trade mark;

(b) replace a reference to the importer or exporter with a reference to the dealer.

Compensation for failure to take action

93I.—(1) Where —

(a) goods have been seized under section 93A;

(b) the goods continue to be detained because section 93B(1) has been satisfied; and

(c) the proprietor fails to take infringement action within the period specified in section 93C(1) (including any extension of that period under section 85(6) as applied by section 93C(2)),

a person aggrieved by the seizure may apply to the Court for an order of compensation against the proprietor.

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(2) Where the Court is satisfied that the applicant has suffered loss or damage as a result of the seizure of the goods, the Court may order the proprietor to pay to the applicant compensation of such amount as the Court thinks fit.

Retention of control of seized goods

93J. Despite section 93G and any rule made under section 93B(4)(c), in a case in which no order has been made under section 90(3) (as applied by section 93H) in relation to the seized goods, the Director-General is not obliged to release or dispose of the goods if the Government is required or permitted, under any other law, to retain control of the goods.

Disposal of seized goods

93K. Section 92 applies in relation to goods seized under section 93A, as it applies in relation to goods seized under section 82(4), with a reference to the importer or exporter replaced with a reference to the dealer.

Insufficient security

93L.—(1) If the reasonable expenses incurred by the Director- General in relation to any action taken by the Director-General under this Division, or taken in accordance with an order of the Court under this Division exceed the amount deposited, or the amount of the security given, under section 93B, the amount of the excess is a debt due to the Government.

(2) The debt created by subsection (1) is due by the proprietor or, if there are 2 or more proprietors, by the proprietors jointly and severally.”.

Deletion of heading and new Division heading of Part X

79. Part X of the principal Act is amended by deleting the heading immediately above section 94 and substituting the following Division heading:

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“Division 4 — Powers of search”.

Amendment of section 94

80. Section 94(1) of the principal Act is amended by deleting the words “detained under section”.

Amendment of section 95

81. Section 95 of the principal Act is amended —

(a) by inserting, immediately after the word “imported” in subsection (1), the words “, or is being exported,”;

(b) by deleting the words “detained under section” in subsection (1);

(c) by inserting, immediately after the words “to such” in subsection (1)(b), the words “infringement verification, or”; and

(d) by inserting, immediately after subsection (2), the following subsection:

“(3) In this section, “infringement verification” means any process (whether or not involving the proprietor of the registered trade mark concerned) to determine if any article is or contains goods liable to be seized under section 82(4) or 93A.”.

Amendment of section 96

82. Section 96(3) of the principal Act is amended by deleting the word “goods” wherever it appears and substituting in each case the words “package, box, chest, article or goods (as the case may be)”.

Amendment of section 97

83. Section 97(1) of the principal Act is amended by deleting the words “detained under section” wherever they appear in paragraphs (a) and (b).

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Repeal and re-enactment of section 98

84. Section 98 of the principal Act is repealed and the following section substituted therefor:

“Powers of authorised officers to enter certain premises

98.—(1) For the purpose of exercising the powers conferred by sections 94 to 97, an authorised officer may, without warrant, enter upon —

(a) any islet, landing place, wharf, dock, railway or quay;

(b) any premises of a provider of port services or facilities licensed or exempted under the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore Act (Cap. 170A); or

(c) any premises of any airport operated under a licence or exemption under the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore Act (Cap. 41).

(2) In this section, “railway” has the meaning given by the Railways Act (Cap. 263).”.

New Division heading of Part X

85. Part X of the principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately above section 99, the following Division heading:

“Division 5 — Miscellaneous provisions”.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 100

86. Section 100 of the principal Act is repealed and the following section substituted therefor:

“Protection from personal liability

100. No liability shall lie personally against the Director- General, an authorised officer, a senior authorised officer, or any person acting under the direction of the Director-General for anything done or omitted to be done with reasonable care and in good faith in the course of or in connection with —

(a) the exercise or purported exercise of any power under this Part;

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(b) the performance or purported performance of any function or the discharge or purported discharge of any duty under this Part; or

PART 5

RELATED AMENDMENTS TO OTHER ACTS

Related amendments to Customs Act

87.—(1) Section 89(1) of the Customs Act (Cap. 70, 2004 Ed.) is amended —

(a) by deleting the word “or” at the end of paragraph (viii);

(b) by deleting the full-stop at the end of paragraph (ix) and substituting the word “; or”, and by inserting immediately thereafter the following paragraph:

“(x) satisfying a request for information under section 140EB or 140LA(2H) of the Copyright Act, or section 85B or 93A(2H) of the Trade Marks Act.”.

(2) Section 89(1) of the Customs Act, as amended by subsection (1), is amended —

(a) by deleting “140LA(2H)” in paragraph (x) and substituting “140LE”; and

(b) by deleting “93A(2H)” in paragraph (x) and substituting “93E”.

(3) Section 89(1) of the Customs Act, as amended by subsection (1), is amended by inserting, immediately after the words “Copyright Act” in paragraph (x), the words “, section 59B or 67D of the Geographical Indications Act 2014, section 68I of the Registered Designs Act”.

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Related amendments to Regulation of Imports and Exports Act

88.—(1) Section 31(1) of the Regulation of Imports and Exports Act (Cap. 272A, 1996 Ed.) is amended by inserting, immediately after paragraph (viii), the following paragraph:

“(viiia) satisfying a request for information under section 140EB or 140LA(2H) of the Copyright Act, or section 85B or 93A(2H) of the Trade Marks Act;”.

(2) Section 31(1) of the Regulation of Imports and Exports Act, as amended by subsection (1), is amended —

(a) by deleting “140LA(2H)” in paragraph (viiia) and substituting “140LE”; and

(b) by deleting “93A(2H)” in paragraph (viiia) and substituting “93E”.

(3) Section 31(1) of the Regulation of Imports and Exports Act, as amended by subsection (1), is amended by inserting, immediately after the words “Copyright Act” in paragraph (viiia), the words “, section 59B or 67D of the Geographical Indications Act 2014, section 68I of the Registered Designs Act”.

PART 6

SAVING AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS

Saving and transitional provisions for Part 1

89.—(1) Despite section 3 of this Act, section 140C of the Copyright Act as in force immediately before the date of commencement of Division 1 of Part 1 of this Act (called in this section the Phase 1 date) continues to apply to the following cases:

(a) a case where a notice was given in accordance with section 140B of the Copyright Act before the Phase 1 date, not being a notice given pursuant to section 140LA(3)(a)(i) of that Act;

(b) a case where copies of copyright material that were imported into Singapore and that were not goods in transit,

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were detained under section 140LA of the Copyright Act before the Phase 1 date.

(2) Despite section 7(b) of this Act, section 140LA(3)(b)(iii)(A) of the Copyright Act as in force immediately before the Phase 1 date continues to apply to a case where copies of copyright material —

(a) that were to be exported from Singapore; or

(b) that were goods in transit and consigned to a person with a commercial or physical presence in Singapore,

were detained under section 140LA of the Copyright Act before the Phase 1 date.

(3) Subject to subsections (1) and (2), the Copyright Act as amended by Division 1 of Part 1 of this Act, applies to a case where copies of copyright material were seized or detained pursuant to section 140B or 140LA of the Copyright Act before the Phase 1 date.

(4) The Copyright Act as amended by Division 2 of Part 1 of this Act, applies in relation to a notice —

(a) that was given in accordance with section 140B of the Copyright Act before the date of commencement of Division 2 of Part 1 of this Act (called in this section the Phase 2 date);

(b) pursuant to which copies of copyright material have yet to be seized before that date; and

as if it were a notice given in accordance with section 140B of the Copyright Act on or after the Phase 2 date.

(5) For the purposes of subsection (4), a reference in a provision of Division 6 of Part Vof the Copyright Act (as amended by Division 2 of Part 1 of this Act) to the requestor is a reference to the person who gave the notice mentioned in that subsection.

(6) Despite Division 2 of Part 1 of this Act, sections 140A to 140LA of the Copyright Act as in force immediately before the Phase 2 date continue to apply to a case where copies of copyright material were

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seized or detained under section 140B or 140LA of the Copyright Act on or after the Phase 1 date but before the Phase 2 date.

Saving and transitional provisions for Part 4

90.—(1) Despite section 56 of this Act, section 83 of the Trade Marks Act as in force immediately before the date of commencement of Division 1 of Part 4 of this Act (called in this section the Phase 1 date) continues to apply to the following cases:

(a) a case where a notice was given in accordance with section 82 of the Trade Marks Act before the Phase 1 date, not being a notice given pursuant to section 93A(3)(a)(i) of that Act;

(b) a case where goods that were imported into Singapore and that were not goods in transit, were detained under section 93A of the Trade Marks Act before the Phase 1 date.

(2) Despite section 60(b) of this Act, section 93A(3)(b)(iii)(A) of the Trade Marks Act as in force immediately before the Phase 1 date continues to apply to a case where goods —

(a) that were to be exported from Singapore; or

(b) that were goods in transit and consigned to a person with a commercial or physical presence in Singapore,

were detained under section 93A of the Trade Marks Act before the Phase 1 date.

(3) Subject to subsections (1) and (2), the Trade Marks Act as amended by Division 1 of Part 4 of this Act, applies to a case where goods were seized or detained pursuant to section 82 or 93A of the Trade Marks Act before the Phase 1 date.

(4) The Trade Marks Act as amended by Division 2 of Part 4 of this Act, applies in relation to a notice —

(a) that was given in accordance with section 82 of the Trade Marks Act before the date of commencement of Division 2 of Part 4 of this Act (called in this section the Phase 2 date);

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(b) pursuant to which goods have yet to be seized before that date; and

as if it were a notice given in accordance with section 82 of the Trade Marks Act on or after the Phase 2 date.

(5) For the purposes of subsection (4), a reference in a provision of Part X of the Trade Marks Act (as amended by Division 2 of Part 4 of this Act) to the requestor is a reference to the person who gave the notice mentioned in that subsection.

(6) Despite Division 2 of Part 4 of this Act, sections 81 to 93A of the Trade Marks Act as in force immediately before the Phase 2 date continue to apply to a case where goods were seized or detained under section 82 or 93A of the Trade Marks Act on or after the Phase 1 date but before the Phase 2 date.

(7) Despite section 86 of this Act, section 100 of the Trade Marks Act as in force immediately before the Phase 2 date continues to apply to an act done or omitted to be done before the Phase 2 date.

Minister may make other saving and transitional provisions by regulations

91. For a period of 2 years after the date of commencement of any provision of this Act, the Minister may, by regulations, prescribe such other provisions of a saving or transitional nature consequent on the enactment of that provision as theMinister may consider necessary or expedient.

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