SG’s Court of Appeal orders online seller to pay Louis Vuitton more than half a million in damages
29 May 2026
Photo credit to Bulang and Sons.
A Singaporean court has ordered an online seller of knockoff Louis Vuitton Malletier (LVM) products to pay the luxury goods company S$510,000 (US$399,000) in statutory damages.
Singaporean Hoe Seng Ng was found to be selling the counterfeit goods on Instagram. Despite the issuance of cease and desist letters and injunction orders, Ng continued with his illegal business activity, prompting LVM to file a case of trademark infringement after making trap purchases in 2022.
In 2023, the High Court decided in favour of LVM, citing 121 instances of trademark infringement and directing the infringer to pay the company S$200,000 (US$156,600). LVM deemed the amount too low and appealed.
On May 6, 2026, the Court of Appeal agreed with LVM and raised the amount in damages to more than half a million covering goods such as key cases, watch straps, passport covers, purses, phone cases, cigarette cases and others.
Anna Toh | a director @ Amica Law, Singapore
According to Anna Toh, a director at Amica Law in Singapore, a key takeaway from the case is the Court of Appeal’s clear rejection of the punitive approach to statutory damages. “Damages under Singapore law are intended to compensate a plaintiff or reverse a benefit to a defendant, but not to punish. The court highlighted U.S. legislation and case law indicating that statutory damages there are intended to punish willful and defiant infringements, and contrasted it with Singapore’s legislation, in which flagrancy is only one of several factors to be considered. Ultimately, U.S. damages benchmarks and arguments are unlikely to be persuasive in Singapore,” said Toh.
Also, she said it must be noted that the damages awarded were statutory damages. “So the Court of Appeal was constrained by the maximum amounts provided for by statute, S$900,000 (US$704,700) in this case,” Toh stated.
“On these principles, while the infringer’s behaviour was highly flagrant and considered as an aggravating factor, the limited scale of his operations – 121 instances in evidence – meant that the court would not award damages too close to the maximum,” she explained.
The court also directed Ng to pay the French luxury brand an additional S$40,000 (US$31,300) to cover legal costs.
- Espie Angelica A. de Leon
