SINGAPORE - The Ministry of Defence issued a response on Wednesday following a doctor's refusal to stop making what it claims are "false statements" over the patent for a mobile medical station; despite being told to do so by the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC).
Last month, the AGC wrote to social political blog The Online Citizen (TOC) and Dr Ting Choon Meng, the co-founder of medical devices firm MobileStats Technologies, asking them to stop repeating claims that Mindef had copied Dr Ting's patented concept for an emergency mobile clinic after speaking to him about it at a trade fair in 2005.
This was after a court had declared Dr Ting's patent invalid in Jan last year.
TOC has also refused to take down Dr Ting's allegations against Mindef from its website.
In a statement, Mindef said that it takes these allegations "very seriously" and has referred the matter to the AGC.
"When false allegations are made that impinge on our integrity, they can dent public confidence in Mindef and the Government. Mindef takes these allegations very seriously and has provided opportunities for the false allegations to be corrected, but without success," it said.
The AGC had earlier said that unless its requests to put an end to these allegations were met, it would apply for a court order under the Protection from Harassment Act.
However, in replies which were posted on TOC's site on Tuesday, lawyers for the doctor and TOC argued that Mindef does not qualify as a victim of harassment.
