Bag brand Aupen and founder issued Pofma order for false claims against IP office

Mr Nicholas Tan, the Singaporean founder of popular homegrown handbag brand Aupen, was ordered to post correction notices on his personal and business Instagram pages over accusations made against the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (Ipos).

- Carmen Sin

The Pofma Office, which administers the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act, was instructed by Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs Edwin Tong to issue the correction direction to Mr Tan and Aupen under Singapore’s fake news law, the Ministry of Law said on Sept 22.

Mr Tan claimed on three separate occasions in September that Ipos had told him not to pursue a trademark dispute with American retail giant Target as he would likely lose, and that Singapore’s trademark laws favoured foreign businesses over local ones.

He also said Ipos had told him that legal reform against bad faith, or dishonest, trademark registrations in Singapore was impossible, and that it would give support to foreign companies when pitched against local ones. He claimed the trademark office had flip-flopped on its advice to him in its media statement issued on Sept 11.

The statements were posted on Instagram on Sept 9, Sept 15 and Sept 16 once to Aupen’s official Instagram page and thrice to Mr Tan’s personal page. These have since expired or been removed.