The Online Citizen earlier reported on how Dr Ting Choon Ming had sued the Ministry of Defence for allegedly infringing on intellectual property for his invention, the Station With Immediate First-Aid Treatment (SWIFT) vehicle. When he dropped the case due to a lack of funds to finance the suit, Mindef countered by applying for a court order to revoke his patent.
The following is an excerpt from court transcripts of how Mindef had cross-examined Dr Ting on whether SWIFT contained any “inventive step”.
Defence: So looking at these pictures from 83 to, let’s say, page 97, you agree with me that many of these vehicles 21 have been available prior to the filing date of your patent, agree?
Ting: I don’t agree, because if you don’t look at it in totality, that it is the ability for you to employ or deploy fast, and we have to use this principle. Then you just pick up one of it and say, for example, you know there is steam and steam is available all the time, there is an engine and it’s available, put the two together and make a steam engine. It does not work that way.