Straits Times Review Changes Name To States Times Review To Avoid Legal Tangle

SINGAPORE: A new website run by a former editor of The Real Singapore, on Thursday (May 7) changed its name in order to avoid “legal confrontations” with Singapore Press Holdings (SPH).

The site, originally named Straits Times Review has rebranded itself as the States Times Review.
Its original name was apparently too close for comfort as SPH’s broadsheet newspaper The Straits Times, which lodged a trademark infringement complaint to Facebook.

The States Times Review, set up by blogger and systems engineer Alex Tan, describes itself as an “independent news site based in Australia”. It emerged shortly after authorities in Singapore ordered the shutdown of The Real Singapore (TRS).

The site was also unavailable earlier on Thursday, but the administrator said it was due to “massive amount of traffic” that they underestimated.

By 7pm on Thursday evening, the website was up and running at a new URL, www.statestimesreview.com.

In an article posted on its website, The Straits Times said on Thursday that SPH is “exploring all options, including legal recourse”, against the Straits Times Review.

The States Times Review had earlier posted on Facebook that it had applied for a trademark registration for the name “Straits Times Review” with IP Australia, which administers Australia’s intellectual property rights system.