I NTRO TOLAW CASEDI DI GEST 1 CASE # 20
Phi l i pMorr i s,I nc.vs.For t uneTobaccoCor por at i on G. R.No.158589.June27,2006 Facts: Pet i t i onerPhi l i p Morr i s,I nc.a corporat i on organi zed undert hel awsoft he st at e ofVi r gi ni a,USA,i st he r egi st er ed owneroft he t r adema mar k MARK
or VI If
c i g ar e t t e s .Be ns onandHe dg e s( Canada) ,I nc . ,as ubs i di ar yofPhi l i pMo r r i s ,I nc . ,i s t her egi st er edowneroft het r adem ma arkMARK TEN f o rc i g ar e t t e s .Ano t he rs ubs i di ar y ofPhi l i p Morr i s,I nc.t heSwi ssCom mp panyFabri quesdeTabacReuni es,S. A. ,i st he ass i gneeoft he t r adema mar k LARK.Al lar e ev i dence d by Tr adem ma ar k Cer t i ficat e of Reg i s t r at i on. On t he ot her hand, For t une To bacco Cor por at i on, a co mpany organi zedi nt hePhi l i ppi nes,manuf act ur esandsel l sci garet t esusi ngt het r adema mar k MARK.
Phi l i pMorr i s,I nc.fil edacompl ai ntf ort r adem ma arki nf r i ngeme mentanddam ma ages agai ns tFor t une Tobacco Cor por at i on.The comp mpl ai ntwas di smi mi ss ed by t he RTC Pasi gCi t yi ni t sdeci si ondat edJanuary21,2003. Mai nt ai ni ng t o hav et he s t andi ng t o sue i n t he l oc al f or um and t hat r espondenthas comm mmi t t ed t r adema mar ki nf r i ngeme ment ,pet i t i oner swenton appealt o t heCA butCA affi ffir r med t het r i alc our t ’ sdec i si on.TheCA f ound t hatMARK VI I , MARK TEN and LARK do notqual i f y as wel l known mar ks ent i t l ed t o pr ot ec t i on evenwi t houtt hebenefitofact ualusei nt hel ocalmar ketandt hatt hesi mi l ari t i es i nt het r adema mar ksi n ques t i on ar ei nsuffici entast ocausedece pt i on orconf usi on t ant am mo ountt oi nf r i ngeme ment . Wi Wi t ht hemo t i on f orr ec onsi der at i on deni ed i nt heCA,t hepe t i t i oner sfil ed a pet i t i onf orr evi ew wi t ht heSupr em me eCour t .
Issues: 1. )W Wh het her or not pet i t i oner s, as Phi l i ppi ne r egi st r ant s of t r adem ma arks, ar e e nt i t l e dt oe nf o r c et r ade m ma ar kr i g ht si nt hec ount r y . 2. )Wh Whe t herornotr es pondenthas comm mmi t t ed t r adema mar ki nf r i nge mentagai ns t pet i t i oner sby i t suseoft hemarkMARK f ori t sc i g ar e t t e s,he nc el i abl ef or dama mag es .
I NTRO TOLAW CASEDI GEST 2 CASE # 20
Rul i ng: A t r ademar ki sanydi s t i nct i v ewor d,name ,symbol ,embl e m,si gn,ordev i ce, oranycombi nat i on t her eofadopt ed and use d by a manuf act ur erormer c hanton hi sgoodst oi dent i f yanddi st i ngui sht hem f r om t hosemanuf act ur ed,sol d,ordeal t i n byot her s.I narguabl y ,t r ademar k deservespr ot ect i on.I ti sf ort hi sr eason t hat t hepe t i t i o ne r ’ sr e c our s ef o rt he i re nt i t l e me ntt oe nf o r c et r ade mar kr i g ht si nt hi s count ryand al sot her i ghtt osuef ort r ademarki nf r i ngementi n Phi l i ppi necour t s and beaccorded pr ot ect i on agai nstunaut hori zed useoft hePhi l i ppi ner egi st er ed t r ademarksi sunder st andabl e.Thei rs t andi ngt osuei n Phi l i ppi necour t shad been r ecogni z edbyt heCA butsuchr i ghtt osuedoesnotnece ssar i l ymean pr ot ect i on of t hei rt r ademar ksi nt heabsenceofact ualusei nt hePhi l i ppi nes. Butt hepet i t i oner sarest i l lf orei gn corporat i ons.Theymay notsueon t hat bas i sal oneoft hei rr es pect i v ecer t i ficat e sofr e gi s t r at i on oft r ademar ksunl e sst he i r c ount r ygr a nt ss i mi l arr i g ht sandpr i v i l e g est oFi l i pi noc i t i z e nspur s uantt oSe c t i o n 21A ofR. A.No.166.Thi sreci pr oci t yr equi r ementi sa condi t i on t ofil easui tbya f or e i g nc or por a t i o n asr ul e di nLe vi t o nI ndus t r i e sv .Sal v ado r . The r espec t i v e home c ount r y oft he pe t i t i one r ,namel y ,t he Uni t ed St at e s, Swi t z er l and and Canada,t oget herwi t ht hePhi l i ppi nesaremember soft hePari s Uni on.Phi l i ppi nesadher encet ot hePari sConvent i onobl i gat est hecount ryt ohonor ande nf or c ei t spr o vi s i ons ,ho we v e r ,t hi sdo esno ta ut o mat i c al l ye nt i t l epe t i t i o ne r st o t hepr ot ect i on oft hei rt r ademarki nourcount rywi t houtact ualuseoft hemarksi n l ocalcommer ceandt r adebec auseanypr ot ec t i on accor dedhast obemadesubj ec t t ot hel i mi t at i onsofPhi l i ppi nel aws . Si g ni fic ant l y ,r e g i s t r at i o ni nt hePhi l i ppi ne soft r ade mar ksdo e sno tc o nv e yan i l av .De v e l o pme ntGr o upo f abs o l ut er i g hto re x c l us i v eowne r s hi pt he r e of .I nShangr Compani es ,t he Court emphas i z e dt hat t r ademar ki s a cr eat i on of use and,
t he r e f or e ,ac t ualus ei sapr e r e qui s i t et oe x cl us i v eo wne r s hi p;r e gi s t r at i oni so nl yan admi ni st r at i veconfir mat i on oft heexi st enceoft her i ghtofowner shi p oft hemark, butdoesnotper f e cts uc hr i ght . Wi t ht hef or egoi ngper s pect i v e,i tmaybes t at edr i ghtoff t hatt her egi s t r at i on ofat r ademar kunaccompani edbyact ualusei nt hecount r yaccor dst her egi st r ant s onl yt hest andi ngt osuef ori nf ri ngement si n Phi l i ppi neCourt sbutent i t l ementt o pr o t e c t i o no fs uc ht r ade mar ki nt hec o unt r yi se nt i r e l ydi ffe r e ntma t t e r . Ont hemai ni s s ueofi nf r i ng e me nt ,t hec our t ,r e l y i ngont heho l i s t i ct e s tr ul e d agai nstt he l i kel i hood ofconf usi on r esul t i ng i ni nf r i ngementar i si ng f r om t he
I NTRO TOLAW CASEDI GEST 3 CASE # 20
r espondent ’ suseoft het r ademark MARK f ori t spart i cul arci gare t t epr oduct .The st r i ki ng di ssi mi l ari t i esaresi gni ficantenough t o warn any pur chasert hatonei s di ffer entf r om t heot her .Thi si suponconsi der i ngt heent i r emarki ngasawhol e Forl ack ofconvi nci ng pr oofon t hepartoft hepet i t i oner sofact ualuseof t hei rr egi st er ed t r ademarkpri ort or espondent suseofi t smarkand f orpet i t i oner s f ai l ur et odemonst r at econf usi ngsi mi l ari t ybet ween sai dt r ademarks,t hedi smi ssal oft hei rbasi ccompl ai ntofi nf ri ngementandt hepl eaf ordamagesar eaffir med. Thepe t i t i on i sdeni ed.Theas sai l e d dec i s i on and r esol ut i on oft heCour tof Appe al sar eaffir me d.
