Case Digest (G.R. No. 264919-21)
Facts:
Gloria Maris Shark's Fin Restaurant, Inc. v. Pacifico Q. Lim, G.R. Nos. 264919-21, May 20, 2024, Supreme Court Third Division, Singh, J., writing for the Court.Petitioner Gloria Maris Shark's Fin Restaurant, Inc. (Gloria Maris) is a corporation formed in 1994 to operate a Chinese/fine-dining restaurant; respondent Pacifico Q. Lim (Lim) was one of its incorporators and later registered three trademarks containing the name “Gloria Maris” with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) in 2005, in his own name. Gloria Maris says the corporate name, the restaurant concept and the logo concept predated Lim’s registrations and that Lim was entrusted to register the marks on the corporation’s behalf but instead registered them personally.
On December 4, 2009, Gloria Maris filed three separate petitions for cancellation of Lim’s Trademark Registration Nos. 4-2004-009149, 4-2004-009150, and 4-2004-009151. The Bureau of Legal Affairs (BLA) of the IPO dismissed the petitions by three Decisions dated February 23, 2012, treating Lim’s registrations and the supporting affidavit of his designer (Joey Rodriguez) and the prima facie presumption of ownership in the certificates as persuasive.
Gloria Maris appealed to the Office of the Director General (ODG) of the IPO. The ODG reversed the BLA in three Decisions dated August 6, 2019, and ordered cancellation of the three registrations, finding Gloria Maris had long used the name and that Lim’s registration was unlawful. Lim sought judicial relief; the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. SP Nos. 162466–68 reversed the ODG and reinstated the BLA Decisions by Decision dated March 18, 2022, holding that Gloria Maris’s evidence did not overcome Lim’s prima facie ownership, and that Gloria Maris was barred by laches. The CA denied reconsideration in a Resolution dated December 19, 2022.
Gloria Maris filed a Petition for Review on Cert...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the Court of Appeals err in reversing the ODG Decisions (which cancelled respondent Lim’s trademark registrations) and in reinstating the BLA-IPO Decisions that dismissed petitioner Gloria Maris’s petitions for ...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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