Doc asked to stop making 'false statements about Mindef'

THE Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) has sent a lawyer's letter to MobileStats Technologies co-founder Ting Choon Meng, asking him to sign a written undertaking "to cease and desist making false statements about Mindef".

If Dr Ting refuses, he faces having the Protection from Harassment Act invoked against him, says the letter.

Dr Ting told The Straits Times yesterday that he received the letter last Friday and is seeking legal advice.

He added that he will respond to the letter in due course.

The legal row between the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) and Dr Ting started last month.

Dr Ting had alleged in a report on The Online Citizen website that Mindef had copied his patented concept for an emergency mobile clinic after speaking to him about it at a trade fair in 2005.

He claimed that he and Dr Mak Koon Hou had started work on their mobile medical station after the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, and had obtained local and international patents in 2005.

Mindef, however, replied a week later, saying it could not have infringed the patent for the vehicle since the patent was not valid in the first place. It said that a court had earlier declared the patent invalid and revoked it.

Mindef was referring to MobileStats dropping its suit against the Government for patent infringement in January last year, citing a lack of funds.

At that point, the company had lost the Singapore patent for the concept because it had abandoned its defence against Mindef's counterclaim that the patent is invalid.

Mindef had said earlier that if MobileStats believes it has a valid case, it should pursue the matter with the manufacturer, Syntech Engineers, and not the end user.

samboh@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Feb 02, 2015.
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