Sumitomo wins another opposition against FALCON for being confusingly similar to FALKEN
November 5, 2016 Japanese company, Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. has once again successfully opposed an application to register FALCON trademark in the Philippines. A Chinese national, Peng Tei Liu, applied to register FALCON for use on vehicles and apparatus for locomotion in Class 12. Sumitomo Rubber opposed claiming that FALCON is confusingly similar to its […]
Pharma Company Thwarts Sysmex Corporation’s Application For ‘HYPHEN’ Mark
September 5, 2016 Sysmex Corporation (“Sysmex”) is headquartered in Japan and deals with the development, manufacture, sale, and distribution of diagnostic instruments, reagents and related software. It claims to be the largest supplier of hematology instrumentation and has established its branch office in the Philippines since 2000. Hyphens Pharma Pte. Ltd. (“Hyphens Pharma”) is a […]
IPO Sides with Daicel in Refusing to Register the ‘DIACEL’ Mark in the Philippines
August 30, 2016 The inquiry of likelihood of confusion generally revolves around the point of view of the ordinary purchaser. In fact, jurisprudence in the Philippines is replete with trademark cases reiterating that competing marks are not meant to be scrutinized in a vacuum, but always in the context of an ordinarily intelligent buyer embedded […]
IPOPHIL Revises the Rules and Regulations on Inter Partes Proceedings
August 22, 2016 On July 11, 2016, the Director General of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHIL) signed IPOPHIL Memorandum Circular No. 16-007 which amended the existing Rules and Regulations on Inter Partes Proceedings as revised by Office Order No. 99, series of 2011. The amendments made to the existing rules and regulations […]
BRIDGESTONE Trademark Solidifies its ‘Well-Known’ Status in the Philippines
August 15, 2016 The series of decisions rendered by the Bureau of Legal Affairs (“BLA”) leave no doubt that the BRIDGESTONE trademark has solidified its status as a well-known mark in the Philippines and Bridgestone Corporation has secured exclusive rights to use the ‘STONE’ element of its BRIDGESTONE mark when the goods involved belong in Class […]
Unilever Fails to Secure Exclusive Rights Over “CLEAR” Mark
August 8, 2016 The use of common words as a trademark is a double-edged sword. From a marketing standpoint, it is beneficial to use them because they are easy to recall. From a legal standpoint, however, it is risky to use them because they are considered weak in the spectrum of trademark distinctiveness. The recent case […]
IPO Cancels Trademark Registration Over Bad Faith Copying of a Japanese Mark
July 31, 2016 The Bureau of Legal Affairs recently cancelled a trademark registration, which it deemed to have been obtained maliciously and in bad faith. The case stemmed from a Petition for Cancellation filed by Japanese Company Toyoda Gosei (“Petitioner”). In the Petition, Petitioner alleged that the registered mark “TG & Design” owned by local […]
Suzuki Successfully Cancels Copycat “HAYABUSA” mark in the Philippines
July 26, 2016 Hayabusa is a falcon bird that is indigenous to Japan. While it is not the biggest bird, it is considered the strongest, with an ability to reach speeds of over 300 kilometers per hour. It is from this characteristic that famed Japanese motorcycle manufacturer Suzuki was inspired to engineer a new motorcycle […]
Supreme Court Upholds the Philippines’ Accession to the Madrid Protocol
July 22, 2016 In a decision promulgated on July 20, 2016, the Supreme Court of the Philippines affirmed the validity of the country’s accession to the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (“Madrid Protocol”). The accession to the Madrid Protocol was assailed by the Intellectual Property Association of the […]
Nestle Successfully Proves Secondary Meaning For “CHOW” Mark
June 13, 2016 Generally, proving secondary meaning of a trademark in order to overcome a descriptiveness refusal is notoriously difficult. A trademark owner usually has to present a voluminous amount of evidence of continuous use, and sometimes may need to present costly and time-consuming market and consumer surveys. However, in a decision issued by the […]