I.Protect: Copyright injunction
-A A +AThursday, July 5, 2012
Clint Fabiosa & Ana Liza Villamor
IS SOMEONE who holds a copyright certificate entitled to a writ of injunction when there is doubt as to the originality of the work covered by the copyright certificate?
In the case of Ong vs. Court of Appeals and Tan, G.R. No. 130360, Aug. 15, 2001, Ong sued Tan for copyright infringement and prayed for a writ of preliminary injunction relying on his (Ong’s) copyright certificate over a two-dragon design which he uses on cellophane wrappers where his vermicelli products are packed. Tan countered that Ong’s two-dragon design lacks originality as Ong merely copied the two-dragon design from Ceroilfood Shandong (Tan’s principal) which had the Certificates of Registration issued by twenty different countries.
In denying the writ of preliminary injunction, the Supreme Court held that a person to be entitled to a copyright must be the original creator of the work. He must have created it by his own skill, labor, and judgment without directly copying or evasively imitating the work of another.
The grant of preliminary injunction depends chiefly on the extent of doubt on the validity of the copyright. The copies of the certificates of copyright registered in the name of Ceroilfood Shandong sufficiently raise reasonable doubt.
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on July 06, 2012.
Business
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