Singaporean tech start-up, V V Technology, has been prevented by Social-media giant Twitter from registering its bird logo as trademark in Singapore.
V V Technology applied to register its logo of a yellow hummingbird in mid-flight on 10 September 2018 for “information services relating to information technology; Maintenance of computer software relating to computer security and prevention of computer risks; Maintenance of software for internet access; Monitoring of computer systems by remote access; Preparation of reports relating to computer programs; Providing Information on Computer technology and programming via a web site; Provision of information relating to computer programming”.
V V Technology’s trademark application was opposed by Twitter on 24 September 2019 as the social-media giant believes the former’s trademark to be too similar to its own and will likely cause confusion. Convinced by Twitter’s arguments, the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) refused to register V V Technology’s trademark. Unhappy with IPOS’s decisions, V V Technology appealed to the High Court of Singapore.
On 23 November 2022, Judicial Commissioner Goh Yihan dismissed V V Technology’s appeal. In coming to its decision, the court held that there exists a likelihood of confusion as the two logos are visually and conceptually similar, and the services claimed by both marks are also similar. While the court noted that Twitter’s strong reputation would reduce the likelihood of direct confusion, but at the same time, Twitter's reputation increases the likelihood that consumers may perceive an economic link (indirect confusion) between the two trademarks. Consumers are likely to think that V V Technology’s logo is simply a new iteration or modification of Twitter’s logo, and since many tech companies are providing their services at low or no cost to end-users, this means that consumers “will likely give an average level of attention during the procuring process, making it ripe for indirect confusion”.