This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
PHILIPPINES


PHILIPPINES


courts such as the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court is a significant achievement for the first year of ‘re-introduction’ of the mediation process.


Samples of successfully mediated cases are listed below, including some their salient provisions:


• Wintrade Industrial Sales Corp v Flowil International Lighting Holdings BV. In this case, Wintrade, a Philippine company, for good and valuable consideration assigned all its Sylvania trademark registrations to Flowil and undertook to discontinue all use and promotion of said mark, and to destroy all materials or goods bearing the mark Sylvania.


• Allied Wires and Cables Corporation v Alvin Chester Lam. For the sole purpose of buying peace, respondent Lam agreed to pay Allied Wires 120,000 Pesos (approximately $2700) and to source electrical wires and cables bearing the trademark Allied exclusively from Allied Wires, in exchange for dismissal of the case.


• Arvin U. Ting v Quanta Paper Corp. In this case, respondent Quanta agreed to give up all its rights to four trademark containing the marks Smile and Smiley, and in return opposer Ting allowed Quanta a phase-out period of 12 months to dispose of its products.


• L’Oreal v Ever Bilena Cosmetics et al. Plaintiff L’Oreal agreed to have all of its four cases against Ever Bilena withdrawn, and in return Ever Bilena undertook to (i) not renew its four design registrations, and (ii) withdraw from the market products bearing the mark Ever Bilena Advance Glamour Shine, Ever Bilena Advance Dazzling Shine, and Ever Bilena Volume Exact Mascara within three months of the agreement.


These examples demonstrate that parties have a wide range of settlement options to choose from, and the originating office of the case will not interfere provided that the conditions of the settlement are not contrary to law, morals, good customs, public order or policy.


The mediation process has pitfalls, however. About 50 percent of trademark and patent filings in the Philippines are from non-resident IP owners whose representatives or agents have limited authority to negotiate for settlement. Obtaining instructions from their principals takes time, well beyond the allotted mediation period.


The settlement figures for 2011 augur well for mediation as an 198 World Intellectual Property Review e-Digest 2012 www.worldipreview.com


THE ORIGINATING OFFICE OF THE CASE WILL NOT INTERFERE PROVIDED THAT THE CONDITIONS OF THE SETTLEMENT ARE NOT CONTRARY TO LAW, MORALS, GOOD CUSTOMS, PUBLIC ORDER OR POLICY.


alternative method of resolving disputes. There is certainly a case for encouraging mediation because of known benefits: the autonomy of the parties is central; speedier and cost-effective settlement of a dispute which may include multi-jurisdictional litigation; the presence of the mediator who is neutral and impartial may encourage openness among the parties; the confidential nature of the proceedings allows parties to save face and incur less damage to their reputations.


Editha Hechanova is the managing partner of Hechanova Bugay & Vilchez. She can be contacted at: editharh@hechanova.com.ph


Editha R. Hechanova is the managing partner of Hechanova Bugay & Vilchez, which specialises in IP, corporate and immigration law. She is also the chief executive officer of Hechanova & Co Inc, a company that handles trademark and patent prosecution, copyright and domain name registrations, trademark valuation, searches, and other non-contentious IP matters.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180  |  Page 181  |  Page 182  |  Page 183  |  Page 184  |  Page 185  |  Page 186  |  Page 187  |  Page 188  |  Page 189  |  Page 190  |  Page 191  |  Page 192  |  Page 193  |  Page 194  |  Page 195  |  Page 196  |  Page 197  |  Page 198  |  Page 199  |  Page 200  |  Page 201  |  Page 202  |  Page 203  |  Page 204  |  Page 205  |  Page 206  |  Page 207  |  Page 208  |  Page 209  |  Page 210  |  Page 211  |  Page 212  |  Page 213  |  Page 214  |  Page 215  |  Page 216  |  Page 217  |  Page 218  |  Page 219  |  Page 220  |  Page 221  |  Page 222  |  Page 223  |  Page 224  |  Page 225  |  Page 226  |  Page 227  |  Page 228  |  Page 229  |  Page 230  |  Page 231  |  Page 232  |  Page 233  |  Page 234  |  Page 235  |  Page 236  |  Page 237  |  Page 238  |  Page 239  |  Page 240  |  Page 241  |  Page 242  |  Page 243  |  Page 244  |  Page 245  |  Page 246  |  Page 247  |  Page 248  |  Page 249  |  Page 250  |  Page 251  |  Page 252  |  Page 253  |  Page 254  |  Page 255  |  Page 256  |  Page 257  |  Page 258  |  Page 259  |  Page 260  |  Page 261  |  Page 262  |  Page 263  |  Page 264  |  Page 265  |  Page 266  |  Page 267  |  Page 268  |  Page 269  |  Page 270  |  Page 271