Significance: the Registrar of Trade Marks considered evidence of online post-sale upgrades and software updates to determine that the “Sherlock” trade mark registered by Apple Inc. was not put to genuine use during the relevant 5-year period after the “Sherlock” search tool and trade mark was phased out.
Apple Inc. needed to provide sufficient evidence to persuade the Registrar that the “Sherlock” trade mark was used within the relevant 5-year period, notwithstanding indications that the “Sherlock” search tool in Mac OS had been phased out. Thus, because there was no evidence that there were downloads of the online updates by Singapore users in the relevant 5-year period, the Registrar was not persuaded that the “Sherlock” trade mark was put to genuine use during that time. The Registrar thus granted the application for revocation of the trade mark as at date of the application.