I.Protect: Kennex case
-A A +AThursday, February 28, 2013
Clint Fabiosa & Ana Liza Villamor
CAN A MERE distributor of goods validly register the trademark of the manufacturer? In the case of Superior Commercial Enterprises, Inc. vs. Kunnan Enterprises Ltd., G. R. No. 169974, April 20, 2010, the Philippine Supreme Court ruled in the negative. In that case, Superior obtained the registration of the “Kennex” trademark for sports products. However, Superior was merely the distributor of the “Kennex” products which were manufactured by Kunnan. The latter owns the registration of the “Kennex” trademark in 31 countries. Superior sued Kunnan for trademark infringement.
Kunnan then filed petitions for the cancellation of Superior’s registration for the “Kennex” mark – these petitions were granted. The Supreme Court ruled that Superior has no right to register “Kennex” as it is owned by Kunnan. The court also said that sinceSuperior’s registration was cancelled, it has no basis for the suit against Kunnan.
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on March 01, 2013.
Business
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