Case Digest (G.R. No. L-56224-26)
Facts:
Wolverine Worldwide, Inc. v. The Honorable Court of Appeals and Lolito P. Cruz, G.R. No. 78298, January 30, 1989, Supreme Court Second Division, Sarmiento, J., writing for the Court. The petitioner is Wolverine Worldwide, Inc.; the private respondent is Lolito P. Cruz (the registrant of the mark), and the Court of Appeals is a respondent as the tribunal whose resolution was assailed.
On February 8, 1984, petitioner filed before the Philippine Patent Office an inter partes petition docketed as Inter Partes Case No. 1807 seeking cancellation of Certificate of Registration No. 24986-B for the mark HUSH PUPPIES and a dog device, registered to the private respondent. Petitioner alleged it was the registrant and prior user of the internationally known HUSH PUPPIES mark in the United States and other Paris Convention countries, and that respondent’s registration and use in the Philippines constituted unfair competition under the Paris Convention.
Respondent moved to dismiss the 1984 petition on the ground of res judicata, pointing to earlier inter partes proceedings in 1973 (Inter Partes Cases Nos. 700 and 701 and interference No. 709) in which the Director of Patents adjudged in favor of Roman Angeles (respondent’s predecessor-in-interest) and cancelled the registration that had been in petitioner’s predecessor’s name. The Director’s decisions in those 1973 matters were affirmed by the Court of Appeals on June 29, 1979.
In the 1984 proceeding, after submission of memoranda the Director of Patents granted respondent’s motion to dismiss Inter Partes Case No. 1807 and declared Certificate No. 24986-B valid and subsisting. On appeal, the Court of Appeals initially set aside the Director’s dismissal but, upon reconsideration, reinstated the Director’s decision. Petitioner then filed a petition for review with the Supreme Court attacking the Court of Appeals’ reinstatement of the dismissal. The principal question presented was whether the present petition for cance...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Is the present petition for cancellation (Inter Partes Case No. 1807) barred by res judicata because of the final judgments in Inter Partes Cases Nos. 700, 701, and 709?
- Does Executive Order No. 913 and the memorandum of Minister Roberto Ongpin (directing cancellation or rejection of registrations of world-famous marks not held by original owners) permit reopening and cancellation of a trademark registration despite...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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