MANILA, Philippines—The Court of Appeals (CA) has thrown out the petition of an alcoholic beverage firm asking for the exclusive use of “ginebra” on its gin products.
The court said the word was a generic term for “gin.”
In a ruling released Friday, Associate Justice Estela Bernabe upheld the decision of the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) junking the request of La Tondeña Distillers Inc. (LTDI) to grant it a trademark for “ginebra.”
“Accordingly, the court finds no error on the part of the IPO director general in dismissing petitioner’s appeal from the denial of its application for registration of the mark ‘ginebra,’” Bernabe said in her six-page decision.
LTDI, formerly Ginebra San Miguel Inc., had filed a petition on February 21, 2003, asking the Bureau of Trademarks to grant it exclusive rights to put the word “ginebra” on its products.
According to the appellate court, LTDI itself mentioned in the petition that the term “ginebra” was a Spanish word for the English word “gin,” an intoxicating drink made from the juniper berry.
As such, the court said that using the word “ginebra” was “merely indicative and descriptive of the merchandise or product designated” and that it was a generic term referring to gin products.
It said that allowing LTDI to have intellectual property rights over the word “ginebra” would unfairly deny four other beverage companies use of the term on their products.
“It is, therefore, a generic term which cannot be appropriated for petitioner’s exclusive use because it would unjustly deprive other gin dealers of the right to use the same with reference to their merchandise,” the appeals court ruled. Aside from LTDI, alcoholic beverage companies Tanduay Distillers Inc., Twin Ace Holding Corp., Consolidated Distillers of the Far East Inc., and Webengton Distillery Inc. had also been putting the word “ginebra” on their gin bottles, the court said.
http://business.inquirer.net/money/breakingnews/view/20100823-288377/Gin-by-any-other-name-still-ginebra
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