Question: Will adding another letter to an existing trademark make a difference? NO, said the IPO Bureau of Legal Affairs. In its Decision No. 2017-299 dated 13 July 2017, the IPO Bureau of Legal Affairs denied the registration of the trademark “F…
Is the trademark PHILIPS confusingly similar to PHILITES? The Supreme Court said yes in a decision promulgated on 22 March 2017. The case started when Dy and/or Philites filed a trademark application for the mark “PHILITES” for the goods “fluorescent bulb, incandescent…
Beginning February 14, 2017 until February 14, 2018, Philippines start-up companies will get the chance to register their trademarks for free. Through the joint project of the Department of Trade and Industry and the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, “JUANA MAKE…
As the Philippine economy has boomed, so has the price for visual art works. The image above is one of the iconic works of National Artist Bencab and is published in his book “Bencab”, but unfortunately, the images in art books, of…
In Taiwan Kolin Corporation, Ltd. vs. Kolin Electronics Co., Inc. (G.R. No. 209843, 25 March 2015), the Supreme Court explained that mere uniformity in Classification alone does not ipso facto equate to relatedness of the goods and/or services. According to the High…
Manila, Philippines- Myphone, the first locally-branded mobile phones in the Philippines has won in a trademark dispute with multinational technology company Apple Inc. In a decision rendered on May 19, 2015, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) BLA ruled in favour of Solid…
On February 28, 2013, President Aquino signed Republic Act No. 10372, which amended the provisions relating to copyright in the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines. 1. CREATION OF THE BUREAU OF COPYRIGHT Republic Act 10372 created the Bureau of Copyright and…
The cancellation of the trademark registration due to failure to file the Declaration of Use is tantamount to a waiver of the registrant’s right or interest over the trademark and thus, will not preclude another party’s subsequent application of the mark. And,…
On April 25 2012, the Philippines acceded to the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (“Madrid Protocol”). The Madrid Protocol is an international registration procedure that allows a trademark holder to secure protection of the trademarks in…
