Singapore founder of Taylor Swift’s favourite Aupen bags slammed for false claims
Nicholas Tan had posted ‘false statements of fact’ about Singapore’s intellectual property authority, law ministry says
Tan published multiple allegations about the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) on his Instagram account on September 9, 15 and 16. The September 15 post was also published on Aupen’s Instagram page.
These Instagram posts and stories contained “false statements of fact” about IPOS’ interactions with them, the stance IPOS takes towards local businesses, and the design of Singapore’s trademark laws, the Ministry of Law said on Monday.
Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs Edwin Tong has instructed the POFMA Office to issue the correction directions to Tan and Aupen. IPOS is a statutory board under the Ministry of Law.
“Mr Tan’s posts not only have the effect of attracting publicity for himself and Aupen, but they also denigrate IPOS’ impartiality and neutrality, as well as the integrity of IPOS and its officers,” said an article on the government’s fact-checking website Factually.
“Unless corrected, these falsehoods will erode the public’s trust in IPOS, our IP laws and our public institutions in general.”
