S’pore luxury bag brand Aupen & founder Nicholas Tan issued POFMA order following false claims about IPOS

Singapore luxury bag brand Aupen & founder Nicholas Tan post correction notices following POFMA order

Home-grown brand Aupen and its founder were ordered to post correction notices under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA).

These orders follow allegations made by Mr Tan about the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) amid the brand’s trademark dispute with retail giant Target.

The Ministry of Law announced on Monday (22 Sept) that both Mr Tan and Aupen must publish correction notices on their Instagram accounts.

“These notices will state that the content communicated false statements of fact, and provide a link to the Government’s clarification.”

The Correction Directions were issued under the instruction of Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs Edwin Tong, after the government determined that “false statements of fact” had been made concerning IPOS.

Founder accused IPOS of favouring foreign firms

According to clarifications posted on the state-run fact-checking site Factually, Mr Tan had made a series of false posts on both his personal Instagram account and Aupen’s official Instagram on 9, 15, and 16 Sept.

These posts have since been removed or expired.

Among his claims were:

• That IPOS discouraged him from pursuing a trademark dispute with US retail giant Target in Singapore.
• That IPOS said he had a high chance of losing the case.
• That Singapore’s trademark laws were designed to protect foreign businesses over local ones.
• That legal reform to disallow bad-faith trademark registrations in Singapore would not be possible.
• That IPOS flip-flopped on its advice to him.

Factually debunked each of these statements, clarifying that:

• IPOS provided him with legal advice to pursue the case, or that he would likely lose.
• Singapore’s trademark laws treat all businesses equally, whether local or foreign.
• Trademark registrations made in bad faith are already prohibited under Singapore law.
• IPOS’s official 11 Sept media statement was consistent with what had been told to Mr Tan.

Correction notices ordered

As a result, Mr Tan and Aupen are required to publish correction notices on Instagram to set the record straight.

Factually stressed that Mr Tan’s falsehoods had “the effect of attracting publicity for himself and Aupen”, while also undermining trust in IPOS, its impartiality and neutrality, and Singapore’s IP laws.

“Unless corrected, these falsehoods will erode the public’s trust in IPOS, our IP laws, and our public institutions in general,” the site warned.

On Monday (22 Sept), correction notices were posted on both Mr Tan’s and Aupen’s Instagram pages.

“An earlier post dated 15 Sep 2025, that has since been deleted, communicated a false statement of fact,” the post said, adding a link to the Factually page.

Also read: S’pore luxury handbag brand Aupen caught in trademark battle with Target, lays off staff & ‘surrenders’

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Featured image adapted from Aupen on Instagram and Instagram.