This Article explores the issue of secondary liability in Singapore trademark
law, with particular attention to intermediaries on the Internet, including Internet
service providers (ISPs), e-commerce companies, search engines, website
operators, online financial service providers and social media sites.1 Section 27(5)
of the Singapore Trade Marks Act attributes liability to those who use a mark
“knowing or having reasons to believe” that such use is not authorized by the
trademark owner or licensee.2 More precisely, the provision excludes trademark
liability for those “persons” who use a trademark in the course of trade, namely
“for labelling or packaging goods” or as “a sign” on commercial documents or in
advertising, provided that they “do[] not know nor ha[ve] reason to believe” that
the owner of the mark or his licensee has not consented to such use.3 Although the