Clint Fabiosa & Ana Liza Villamor
Registration of business names with the Department of Trade and Industry (for sole proprietorships) and/or the Securities and Exchange Commission (for corporations and partnerships) does not grant exclusive proprietary rights over brand names.
Neither will use of the mark alone, without registration, ripen into a TRADEMARK RIGHT. Only trademark registration with the Intellectual Property Office (IP Philippines) grants the said rights to a trademark owner. Section 138 of the Intellectual Property Code provides: “A certificate of registration of a mark shall be prima facie evidence of the validity of the registration, the registrant’s ownership of the mark, and of the registrant’s exclusive right to use the same in connection with the goods or services and those that are related thereto specified in the certificate.”
(clint.fabiosa@iprotect.ph / analiza.villamor@iprotect.ph).