A. Introduction

[1] The plaintiff company (plaintiff) promotes and sells "slurry pumps" in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei with the "WARMAL" mark (WARMAL Pumps). A copy of WARMAL mark is annexed to this judgment as "Annexure A".

[2] The defendant company (defendant) sells slurry pumps with the "WALMAR" mark (WALMAR Pumps). A copy of WALMAR mark is annexed to this judgment as "Annexure B".

[3] The plaintiff has filed this action against the defendant (This Suit) based on the following three causes of action:

(1) the defendant has committed a tort of passing off by:

(a) passing off WALMAR Pumps as WARMAL Pumps (passing off WARMAL mark); and

(b) passing off the defendants business as that of the plaintiffs (passing off the plaintiffs corporate name);

(2) the defendant has committed a tort of unlawful interference with the plaintiffs business; and

(3) WARMAL mark is a well-known trade mark which entitles the plaintiff to injunctive relief under s 70B(1) of the Trade Marks Act 1976 ( TMA ) against the defendant.

B. Issues

[4] The following questions arise in this case:

(1) whether the plaintiff has the locus standi to sue for the tort of passing off regarding WARMAL Pumps wh