PHILIPPINES: COVID-19 UPDATE
Following President Duterte’s declaration of state of public health emergency and the imposition of an “enhanced community quarantine” for Metro Manila effective March 15, 2020 to April 14, 2020, the Philippine Intellectual Property Office (IPOPHIL) announced changes in the way it will operate during the quarantine period. These are: All new applications for patents, utility models, […]
Supreme Court affirms a second time the well-known status of PHILIPS
May 30, 2017 The Philippine Supreme Court has handed down to giant Dutch company, Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (KPENV), a win in the latter’s long battle to keep a local businessman from getting a registration for the trademark PHILITES and P Device. PHILIPS has been a leading brand in lighting products and has had presence […]
IPOPHL Revised Fee Structure of 2017
Please be advised that a directive has been issued by our Intellectual Property Office increasing the official fees by 20%. The increased fees will take effect on January 1, 2017. Below is a table showing the current rates of official fees, alongside with the corresponding increased fees for 2017.
Industrial Design: The Inseparability of Priority from Novelty
November 10, 2016 The essence of prior art as a bar to the registrability of a design lies not only in its similarity with the disputed design but also in the fact that it enjoys precedence. As the adage goes, “first in time, first in right”. The case of KPI Manufacturing, Inc. doing business under […]
IPOPHL Launches Industrial Design Electronic Filing System
November 9, 2016 The Philippine Intellectual Property Office launched an electronic filing system for industrial design on November 2, 2016 called EIDFILE. Under the system, applicants seeking protection for industrial design can file his application by the use of a computer terminal with latest versions of web browsers. Applicants may file applications for industrial design […]
Fashion house Stella McCartney Limited loses an opposition against the Malaysian brand ST ELLA
November 8, 2016 The fashion house Stella McCartney Limited (“opposer”), known for its ready-to-wear apparel, accessories, lingerie, eyewear, and fragrances opposed the registration in the Philippines of the trademark ST ELLA owned by the Malaysian company, Melilea (“applicant”). Melilea filed an application to register ST ELLA designating, among others, soaps, perfumery, essential oils, cosmetics, hair […]
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 […]