Clause 6

by deleting subsections (1), (2) and (3) and substituting the following subsections:“(1) Subject to subsection (6), where —

a person has filed an application for the registration of a trade mark in a Convention country in respect of certain goods or services;

that application is the first application for the registration of the trade mark to be filed in any Convention country in respect of those goods or services (referred to in this section as the first Convention application); and

within 6 months after the date on which the first Convention application is filed, that person or his successor in title applies under this Act for the registration of the trade mark in respect of all or any of those goods or services,that person or his successor in title may, when filing the application under this Act, claim a right of priority for the registration of the trade mark in respect of all or any of the goods or services for which registration was sought in the first Convention application.(2) Where any person claims the right of priority referred to in subsection (1), the person shall have priority from (and including) the date on which the first Convention application was filed.(3) Where the right of priority referred to in subsection (1) is claimed in respect of a trade mark, the registrability of the trade mark shall not be affected by any use of the trade mark in Singapore in the period between —

the date the first Convention application was filed; and

the date the application under this Act was filed.”; and

by deleting subsection (6) and substituting the following subsections:“(6) Where a subsequent application concerning the same subject as an earlier application is filed, whether in the same or a different Convention country, and these are the first 2 applications concerning that subject to be filed in any Convention country, the subsequent application shall be considered the first Convention application if, at the date the subsequent application is filed —

the earlier application has been withdrawn, abandoned or refused, without having been laid open to public inspection and without leaving any rights outstanding; and

the earlier application has not yet served as a basis for claiming a right of priority.(6A) For the avoidance of doubt, where subsection (6) applies —

the date on which the subsequent application was filed, rather than that of the earlier application, shall be considered the starting date of the period of priority under subsection (2); and

the earlier application may not thereafter serve as a basis for claiming a right of priority.”.