Presence in a foreign jurisdiction can be established through online commercial activities, and statutory damages awarded in a foreign judgment are enforceable in Malaysia, provided they do not contravene public policy.

Adlin Abdul Majid J:

A. Introduction

[1] With the ubiquitous nature of the Internet and rapid technological developments, cross-border online commercial activities and transactions have become the norm. The question before this court is therefore highly relevant to today's way of doing business - namely, whether a party's presence in a foreign jurisdiction can be established where the party operates a domain address or website which leads to commercial dealings between the party and residents of that foreign jurisdiction.

[2] This question arose in the plaintiffs' application filed under O 14A and/or O 33 r 2 of the Rules of court 2012 (" ROC "), for questions to be determined by the court without a full trial ("Order 14A Application"). The parties agreed on the questions, which are set out in a consent order in encl 112 ("Consent Order").

[3] The court answered the question in the affirmative and found that the defendants, who entered into commercial transactions with residents of the United States of America ("U.S.") through their websites, had sufficiently established their presence in the U.S., and that the U.S. court had jurisdiction over the defendants. Following this finding, the court enforced the judgment obtained in the U.S. court against the defendants for infringement of the plaintiffs' trademarks.

B. Background Facts

[4] The 1st plaintiff is a corporation incorporated in Nevada, U.S. It operates several online dating websites, including www.SeekingArrangement.com ("Seeking Arrangement Website").

[5] The 2nd plaintiff is a corporation incorporated in Singapore. It is the registered owner of the following trademarks registered in the U.S., which are used by the 1st plaintiff in conjunction with the operation of several websites, including the Seeking Arrangement Website:

a. "MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL RELATIONSHIPS", with U.S. trademark registration no 3,736,566; and

b. "RELATIONSHIP ON YOUR TERMS", with U.S. trademark registration no 4,851,998

(collectively, the "Plaintiffs' Trademarks").

[6] The 1st defendant is a company incorporated in Malaysia. It owns and operates the domain addresses and websites found at www.TheSugarBook. com ("Sugar Book Website") and www.Sugarficial.com (collectively, the "Defendants' Websites"). The Defendants' Websites are online dating platforms for people to meet, connect, and build relationships, similar to the Seeking Arrangement Website.

[7] The 2nd defendant is a Director of the 1st defendant.

[8] On 23 March 2018, the plaintiffs filed a suit against the defendants ("U.S. Suit") at the U.S. District court for the Central District of California ("U.S. court") for trademark infringement, false advertising and unfair competition in respect of, amongst others, the defendants' use of the Plaintiffs' Trademarks on the Sugar Book Website ("Plaintiffs' Complaint").

[9] The Plaintiffs' Complaint was served on the defendants in Malaysia pursuant to an order dated 4 December 2018 granted by the U.S. court. The defendants did not defend themselves in the U.S. Suit, and on 30 August 2019, the U.S. court entered a default judgment against the defendants ("U.S. Judgment") and ordered them to, amongst others, pay the following sums to the plaintiffs:

a. Statutory damages in the sum of USD4,000,000.00;

b. Attorneys' fees in the sum of USD83,600.00; and

c. Costs in the sum of USD3,122.00.

[10] The U.S. Judgment was served on the defendants in Malaysia. The defendants have not satisfied the U.S. Judgment.

C. Proceedings In Malaysia

[11] There are two processes to enforce a foreign judgment in Malaysia. The first is by way of the Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments Act 1958 ("REJA"), which only applies where a foreign judgment is obtained from one of the jurisdictions listed in the First Schedule of the REJA. In such a case, an application can be made to the High court to register the foreign judgment.

[12] If the foreign judgment is not obtained from one of the reciprocating countries in the REJA, then the party see