Court orders condo to drop Amanusa name

[mr funny]

Published May 14, 2007

Court orders condo to drop Amanusa name

Court finds developer's use of name likely to damage Amanresorts' goodwill

By WEE LI-EN


(SINGAPORE) The prestigious Amanresorts Group has won a court battle to force a condominium project in Yio Chu Kang to be renamed.


http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/6927/bt62273671405200737aadauq3.jpg
What's in a name? Local property developer Novelty had named its Yio Chu Kang condominium project Amanusa, the same name as a luxury resort in Bali run by the Amanresorts Group


Local property developer Novelty had named its condo Amanusa, but the court found that this was likely to cause damage to the goodwill of the Amanresorts Group, which runs a well-known luxury resort in Bali also called Amanusa.

The court decision last week found that although no buyers had purchased units in the uncompleted project thinking it is related to Amanresorts, allowing Novelty to call its project Amanusa may cause the name to lose its uniqueness.

Justice Tay Yong Kwang said that the name which 'inspires hushed awe' may in future 'evoke suppressed laughter' because of the association with projects that are not as luxurious and well-maintained, especially when residential projects start to show their age.

He rejected Novelty's argument that it came up with the name through the creative inversion of two words as it is too coincidental that it chanced on the same two foreign words and decided to fuse them in exactly the same way that Amanresorts did 15 years ago.

Justice Tay added that he found it hard to believe that in this Internet age, Novelty did not make any searches to see if the name exists in some language and if so, whether it could mean something quite unintended or untoward.

Rooms at the Amanusa resort start from US$700 per night. The group also owns and manages 18 luxury resorts around the world in countries such as Morocco, Bhutan and France.

Amanresorts was represented by Alban Kang and Koh Chia Ling of Alban Tay Mahtani & de Silva. Mr Kang said this is the first time the local courts have declared a mark to be a well known, which means it is entitled to special protection not given to an ordinary trade mark.

[Registered]

Published May 14, 2007

Court orders condo to drop Amanusa name

Court finds developer's use of name likely to damage Amanresorts' goodwill

By WEE LI-EN


(SINGAPORE) The prestigious Amanresorts Group has won a court battle to force a condominium project in Yio Chu Kang to be renamed.


http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/6927/bt62273671405200737aadauq3.jpg
What's in a name? Local property developer Novelty had named its Yio Chu Kang condominium project Amanusa, the same name as a luxury resort in Bali run by the Amanresorts Group


Local property developer Novelty had named its condo Amanusa, but the court found that this was likely to cause damage to the goodwill of the Amanresorts Group, which runs a well-known luxury resort in Bali also called Amanusa.

The court decision last week found that although no buyers had purchased units in the uncompleted project thinking it is related to Amanresorts, allowing Novelty to call its project Amanusa may cause the name to lose its uniqueness.

Justice Tay Yong Kwang said that the name which 'inspires hushed awe' may in future 'evoke suppressed laughter' because of the association with projects that are not as luxurious and well-maintained, especially when residential projects start to show their age.

He rejected Novelty's argument that it came up with the name through the creative inversion of two words as it is too coincidental that it chanced on the same two foreign words and decided to fuse them in exactly the same way that Amanresorts did 15 years ago.

Justice Tay added that he found it hard to believe that in this Internet age, Novelty did not make any searches to see if the name exists in some language and if so, whether it could mean something quite unintended or untoward.

Rooms at the Amanusa resort start from US$700 per night. The group also owns and manages 18 luxury resorts around the world in countries such as Morocco, Bhutan and France.

Amanresorts was represented by Alban Kang and Koh Chia Ling of Alban Tay Mahtani & de Silva. Mr Kang said this is the first time the local courts have declared a mark to be a well known, which means it is entitled to special protection not given to an ordinary trade mark.


Wah liao!
Cluster house lah.

[mr funny]

Condo's name too close to luxury resort

By Ansley Ng, TODAY | Posted: 15 May 2007 1134 hrs


SINGAPORE: A high court judge has ordered a property developer to change the name of its yet-to-becompleted private housing project, ruling that the name was likely to dilute the brand of one of the world’s most exclusive resorts.

Justice Tay Yong Kwang ruled that Novelty Pte Ltd should change the name of the Amanusa, a 36-unit terrace project in Yio Chu Kang Drive, as it was too similar to one of the resorts owned by luxurious chain Amanresorts.

The Singapore-based resort sued Novelty last month for trademark infringement, saying the name was similar to that of its resort in Bali and would confuse customers.

Sixteen of the 18 Amanresorts properties around the world, in places such as Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and the Turks and Caicos Islands, begin with the word “Aman”.

In his judgement last week, Justice Tay said Novelty, in naming its housing project Amanusa, was likely to water down Amanresorts’ brand, causing the resort to lose its “uniqueness”. Worse, the “famous name, which inspires hushed awe, could in future evoke suppressed laughter” if associated with “projects that do not exude the same luxury and class or quality of upkeep...” he said.

But he believed that the property developer, which is also behind the Bluwaters condo in Pasir Ris and The Murano in Pasir Panjang, was not out to “deliberately and deceptively” portray its project to be connected to Amanresorts.

Nearly all the units in the development, priced between $1.3 million and $1.8 million each, are believed to have been sold. The project is due for completion by the end of 2009.

The judge ordered Novelty to stop distributing material that described the housing project as Amanusa, and he gave the developer four weeks to apply for a name change. Justice Tay also ordered Novelty to pay Amanresorts 90 per cent of the cost of the suit.

Amanresorts Group executive director Gregory Sirois said the resort was “delighted” with the outcome.

Novelty’s lawyer, Senior Counsel Tan Tee Jim, said his client is appealing the decision. - TODAY/fa