Inventor of space-saving door wins suit against rivals in passing-off case

Judge says there was deliberate attempt by the defendants to mislead customers

- Toh Yong Chuan Assistant Business Editor

A Singapore inventor behind a space-saving door system widely used in HDB flats and local homes has succeeded in a High Court case, with business rivals found to have passed off similar doors as his design.

The lawsuit in the High Court was brought by Mr Ng Say Keong, a sole proprietor in the business of designing, marketing and installing doors and door-related products in Singapore. He registered his business S & K Solid Wood Doors in 2006.

In 2014, he applied for a Singapore patent for a slide-and-swing door system he invented to maximise space in compact homes. The patent was granted in 2015, and he named the product “SK Door” after the initials of his name.

Mr Ng said in court papers that he has sold an estimated 350,000 space-saving SK doors in Singapore. His business has grown substantially over the years, with net profit rising from $24,993 in 2019 to $130,795 in 2022. His customers include interior designers, contractors, private developers and HDB.

He said that in July 2023, a relative of an existing customer installed swing-slide doors bought from Jia Le Aluminium and 9 Power Aluminium & Glass, and workers who installed the doors allegedly identified themselves as being from “SK Doors”.

Jia Le was registered in Singapore in 2017 and 9 Power in 2018. They share the same registered address as well as the same shareholders and directors, Mr Koh Thiam Hock and Mr Lim Swee Kiat. Both men have also been directors and shareholders of a Malaysia-registered company, Supreme Door Aluminium & Glass, since February 2023.

The Malaysian company, registered in Johor Bahru and incorporated on March 8, 2021, by Mr Ng’s former employee Goh Song Guan, manufactures a similar slide-and-swing door known as “SD Door”.