Noodle seller sues nephew

[Sun Wukong]

Singapore
Feb 8, 2010

Noodle seller sues nephew

<!-- by line --> By Selina Lum

THE owner of a famous bak chor mee (minced meat noodles) stall in Crawford Lane has taken his nephew to court over the latter's outlet in a food court at VivoCity shopping mall. Mr Tang Chay Seng, 63, who runs well-known Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle, alleges that Mr Arthur Tung Yang Wee, 39, is trying to pass off his stall, Lau Dai Hua, as the original. Mr Tang, who has accused his nephew of pulling publicity gimmicks to mislead the public, wants a High Court order to stop his nephew from riding on the reputation of his stall. He is also seeking unspecified damages, and for an apology to be published in the Chinese-language newspapers.

The falling-out between the men arose from advertisements the younger man took out in two Chinese-language newspapers in November 2008 to promote his newly opened outlet at the Food Republic food court. Mr Tang said that in the ads, his nephew tried to pass off his noodles as his uncle's by displaying the original stall's awards and certificates. Mr Tang said this was calculated to mislead and confuse the public into thinking that the outlet is connected to the stall with a history of 76 years.

Read the full report in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.

 

[Sun Wukong]

Singapore
Home > Breaking News > Singapore > Story
Feb 9, 2010

Noodle tussle in court

He claims nephew is trying to pass new stall off as the original

<!-- by line --> By Selina Lum
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Mr Tang Chay Seng claims his nephew misled the public via newspaper ads. -- PHOTOS: ZAOBAO

Mr Arthur Tung says he has taken pains to distinguish his stall from his uncle's. -- PHOTOS: ZAOBAO

THE owner of a famous bak chor mee (minced meat noodles) stall in Crawford Lane has taken his nephew to court over the latter's outlet in a food court at VivoCity shopping mall. Mr Tang Chay Seng, 63, who runs well-known Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle, alleges that Mr Arthur Tung Yang Wee, 39, is trying to pass off his stall, Lau Dai Hua, as the original. Mr Tang, who has accused his nephew of pulling publicity gimmicks to mislead the public, wants a High Court order to stop his nephew from riding on the reputation of his stall. He is also seeking unspecified damages, and for an apology to be published in the Chinese-language newspapers.

The falling-out between the men arose from advertisements the younger man took out in two Chinese-language newspapers in November 2008 to promote his newly opened outlet at the Food Republic food court. The uncle said that in the ads, his nephew displayed the original stall's awards and certificates, a move calculated to mislead and confuse the public into thinking the outlet is connected to the stall with a 76-year history. Mr Tang's stall, originally started in Hill Street in the 1930s by his father, moved to Crawford Lane in 2004. It was at this time that Mr Tang, the founder's second son, registered its present name as a trademark.

Read the full story in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.
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[lauhumku]

Noodle owner loses trademark case


Aug 12, 2010
Noodle owner loses trademark case

<!-- by line --> By Elena Chong
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THE High Court has dismissed the owner of a famous bak chor mee (minced meat noodles) stall's infringement of trade marks action against his nephew. Justice Tan Lee Meng found that Mr Tang Chay Seng, 63, who runs the well-known Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle, had consented to the use of the name, Lau Dai Hua, to his nephew, Mr Arthur Tung Yang Wee, 39, who runs an outlet at VivoCity food court.

The judge said that even if Mr Tang had not given his consent, there was no likelihood of confusion of the marks. The components of Mr Tang's marks had Chinese characters referring to 'Suspension Bridge Head'' and 'Tai Hwa Pork Noodle''. In the case of Arthur's signboard, it had Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters together with a graphic depiction of a mythical 'pi xiu'' which resembled a winged lion.

The court awarded a nominal $1,000 to Mr Tang after finding that Arthur was wrong to have used his uncle's culinary awards in newspaper advertisements in November 2008 to promote his new stall. Arthur's counterclaim against his uncle for compensation was thrown out.