Republic of the Philippines SUPREME COURT Manila FIRST DIVISION G.R. No.

L-23035 July 31, 1975 PHILIPPINE NUT INDUSTRY, INC., petitioner, vs. STANDARD BRANDS INCORPORATED and TIBURCIO S. EVALLE as Director of Patents, respondents.

FACTS:
Philippine Nut, a domestic corporation, obtained from the Patent Office on August 10, 1961, Certificate of Registration No. SR-416 covering the trademark "PHILIPPINE PLANTERS CORDIAL PEANUTS," the label used on its product of salted peanuts. On May 14, 1962, Standard Brands a foreign corporation, 1 filed with the Director of Patents Inter Partes asking for the cancellation of Philippine Nut's certificate of registration on the ground that "the registrant was not entitled to register the mark at the time of its application for registration thereof" for the reason that it (Standard Brands) is the owner of the trademark "PLANTERS COCKTAIL PEANUTS" covered by Certificate of Registration No. SR-172, issued by the Patent Office on July 28, 1958. Standard Brands alleged in its petition that Philippine Nut's trademark "PHILIPPINE PLANTERS CORDIAL PEANUTS" closely resembles and is confusingly similar to its trademark "PLANTERS COCKTAIL PEANUTS" used also on salted peanuts, and that the registration of the former is likely to deceive the buying public and cause damage to it. Petitioner contends, however, that there are differences between the two trademarks, such as, the presence of the word "Philippine" above PLANTERS on its label, and other phrases, to wit: "For Quality and Price, Its Your Outstanding Buy", the address of the manufacturer in Quezon City, etc., plus a pictorial representation of peanuts overflowing from a tin can, while in the label of Standard Brands it is stated that the product is manufactured in San Francisco, California, and on top of the tin can is printed "Mr. Peanut" and the representation of a "humanized peanut". Petitioner further contends that Standard Brands' use of the trademark PLANTERS was interrupted during the Japanese occupation and in fact was discontinued when the importation of peanuts was prohibited by Central Bank regulations effective July 1, 1953, hence it cannot be presumed that it has acquired a secondary meaning. Director of Patents orders the cancellation of Certificate of Registration No. SR-416 issued in favor of herein petitioner Philippine Nut Industry, Inc. (hereinafter called Philippine Nut) for the trademark "PHILIPPINE PLANTERS CORDIAL PEANUTS," upon complaint of Standard Brands Inc. (hereinafter to be called Standard Brands). Hence, this petitioner filed a petition for review. ISSUES:

1. Whether there is a confusing similarity in the trademarks of the parties?

2. Whether or not the doctrine of secondary meaning is applicable in the case at bar? RULING:

1. Yes. Director of Patent's decision is based not only on the fact that petitioner herein
adopted the same dominant mark of Standard Brands, that is, the word PLANTERS, but that it also used in its label the same coloring scheme of gold, blue, and white, and basically the same lay-out of words such as "salted peanuts" and "vacuum packed" with similar type and size of lettering as appearing in Standard Brands' own trademark, all of which result in a confusing similarity between the two labels. Based on the picture which was produced, the striking similarity between the two labels is quite evident not only in the common use of PLANTERS but also in the other words employed. As a matter of fact, the capital letter "C" of petitioner's "Cordial" is alike to the capital "C" of Standard's "Cocktail", with both words ending with an "1".

2. Yes. The applicability of the doctrine of secondary meaning to the situation is

appropriate because there is oral and documentary evidence showing that the word PLANTERS has been used by and closely associated with Standard Brands for its canned salted peanuts since 1938 in this country. Not only is that fact admitted by petitioner in the amended stipulation of facts but the matter has been established by testimonial and documentary evidence consisting of invoices covering the sale of "PLANTERS cocktail peanuts. In other words, there is evidence to show that the term PLANTERS has become a distinctive mark or symbol insofar as salted peanuts are concerned, and by priority of use dating as far back as 1938, respondent Standard Brands has acquired a preferential right to its adoption as its trademark warranting protection against its usurpation by another. Ubi jus ibi remedium. Where there is a right there is a remedy. Standard Brands has shown the existence of a property right. Thus, r We hold otherwise. Respondent Director correctly applied the rule that non-use of a trademark on an article of merchandize due to legal restrictions or circumstances beyond one's control is not to be considered as an abandonment The court affirmed the decision of the Director of Patents provided they are supported by substantial evidence. The testimonial and documentary evidence in addition to the stipulation of facts submitted by the parties fully support the findings of respondent Director that(1) there is a confusing similarity between the labels or trademarks of Philippine Nut and Standard Brands used in their respective canned salted peanuts; (2) respondent Standard Brands has priority of adoption and use of the label with PLANTERS as the dominant feature and the same has acquired secondary meaning in relation to salted peanuts; and (3) there has been no abandonment or non-use of said trademark by Standard Brands which would justify its adoption by petitioner or any other competitor for the sale of salted peanuts in the market.

Republic of the Philippines SUPREME COURT Manila THIRD DIVISION G.R. No. 101897. March 5, 1993. LYCEUM OF THE PHILIPPINES, INC., petitioner, vs. COURT OF APPEALS, ET. AL., respondents.

FACTS:
Petitioner is an educational institution duly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). When it first registered with the SEC on 21 September 1950, it used the corporate name Lyceum of the Philippines, Inc. and has used that name ever since. On 24 February 1984, petitioner instituted proceedings before the SEC to compel the private respondents, which are also educational institutions, to delete the word "Lyceum" from their corporate names and permanently to enjoin them from using "Lyceum" as part of their respective names. Petitioner had sometime before commenced in the SEC a proceeding (SEC-Case No. 1241) against the Lyceum of Baguio, Inc. to require it to change its corporate name and to adopt another name not "similar [to] or identical" with that of petitioner. In an Order dated 20 April 1977, Associate Commissioner Julio Sulit held that the corporate name of petitioner and that of the Lyceum of Baguio, Inc. were substantially identical because of the presence of a "dominant" word, i.e., "Lyceum," the name of the geographical location of the campus being the only word which distinguished one from the other corporate name. The SEC also noted that petitioner had registered as a corporation ahead of the Lyceum of Baguio, Inc. in point of time, 1 and ordered the latter to change its name to another name "not similar or identical [with]" the names of previously registered entities. The Lyceum of Baguio, Inc. assailed the Order of the SEC before the Supreme Court in a case docketed as G.R. No. L-46595. In a Minute Resolution dated 14 September 1977, the Court denied the Petition for Review for lack of merit. Entry of judgment in that case was made on 21 October 1977. With the Resolution of the Court in G.R. No. L-46595, petitioner then wrote all the educational institutions it could find using the word "Lyceum" as part of their corporate name, and advised them to discontinue such use of "Lyceum." When, with the passage of time, it became clear that this recourse had failed, petitioner instituted before the SEC SEC-Case No. 2579 to enforce what petitioner claims as its proprietary right to the word "Lyceum." The SEC hearing officer rendered a decision sustaining petitioner's claim to an exclusive right to use the word "Lyceum." The hearing officer relied upon the SEC ruling in the Lyceum of Baguio, Inc. case (SEC-Case No. 1241) and held that the word "Lyceum" was capable of appropriation and that petitioner had acquired an enforceable exclusive right to the use of that word. On appeal, however, by private respondents to the SEC En Banc, the decision of the hearing officer was reversed and set aside. The SEC En Banc did not consider the word "Lyceum" to have become so identified with petitioner as to render use thereof by other institutions as productive of confusion about the identity of the schools concerned in the mind of the general public. Unlike its hearing officer, the SEC En Banc held that the attaching of geographical

names to the word "Lyceum" served sufficiently to distinguish the schools from one another, especially in view of the fact that the campuses of petitioner and those of the private respondents were physically quite remote from each other. Petitioner then went on appeal to the Court of Appeals. In its Decision dated 28 June 1991, however, the Court of Appeals affirmed the questioned Orders of the SEC En Banc. 4 Petitioner filed a motion for reconsideration.

ISSUE:
1. The Court of Appeals erred in holding that the word Lyceum has not acquired a secondary meaning in favor of petitioner.

RULING:
"SECTION 18. Corporate name. No corporate name may be allowed by the Securities and Exchange Commission if the proposed name is identical or deceptively or confusingly similar to that of any existing corporation or to any other name already protected by law or is patently deceptive, confusing or contrary to existing laws. When a change in the corporate name is approved, the Commission shall issue an amended certificate of incorporation under the amended name." (Emphasis supplied) The policy underlying the prohibition in Section 18 against the registration of a corporate name which is "identical or deceptively or confusingly similar" to that of any existing corporation or which is "patently deceptive" or "patently confusing" or "contrary to existing laws," is the avoidance of fraud upon the public which would have occasion to deal with the entity concerned, the evasion of legal obligations and duties, and the reduction of difficulties of administration and supervision over corporations. Under the doctrine of secondary meaning, a word or phrase originally incapable of exclusive appropriation with reference to an article in the market, because geographical or otherwise descriptive might nevertheless have been used so long and so exclusively by one producer with reference to this article that, in that trade and to that group of the purchasing public, the word or phrase has come to mean that the article was his produce (Ana Ang vs. Toribio Teodoro, 74 Phil. 56). This circumstance has been referred to as the distinctiveness into which the name or phrase has evolved through the substantial and exclusive use of the same for a considerable period of time. Consequently, the same doctrine or principle cannot be made to apply where the evidence did not prove that the business (of the plaintiff) has continued for so long a time that it has become of consequence and acquired a good will of considerable value such that its articles and produce have acquired a well-known reputation, and confusion will result by the use of the disputed name (by the defendant) . We conclude and so hold that petitioner institution is not entitled to a legally enforceable exclusive right to use the word "Lyceum" in its corporate name and that other institutions may use "Lyceum" as part of their corporate names. To determine whether a given corporate name is "identical" or "confusingly or deceptively similar" with another entity's corporate name, it is not enough to ascertain the presence of "Lyceum" or "Liceo" in both names. One must evaluate corporate names in their entirety and when the name of petitioner is juxtaposed with the names of private respondents, they are not reasonably regarded as "identical" or "confusingly or deceptively similar" with each other.

The decision of the Court of Appeals is affirmed and the petition for review is DENIED for lack of merit.