Shangri-La v. DGCI

SHANGRI-LA INTERNATIONAL HOTEL MANAGEMENT, LTD.
, SHANGRI-LA
PROPERTIES, INC., MAKATI SHANGRI- LA HOTEL & RESORT, INC., AND
KUOK PHILIPPINES PROPERTIES, INC., Petitioners, vs. DEVELOPERS
GROUPOF COMPANIES, INC., Respondent.
While the present law on trademarks has dispensed with the requirement of
prior actual use at the time of registration, the law in force at the time of
registration must be applied, and thereunder it was held that as a condition
precedent to registration of trademark, trade name or service mark, the same
must have been in actual use in the Philippines before the filing of the application
for registration.
FACTS:
Respondent Developers Group of Companies, Inc.(DGCI) caused the

registration of the trademark Shangri-La"mark and "S" logo on October 18, 1982.
Petitioner Shangri-laInternational Hotel Management, Ltd. (SIHM) et.al. contested
the said registration in view of its apparent widespread use of the Shangri-La
mark and s logo on its hotels around the world.
SIHM started the use of the mark and the logo since 1969. As far back as
1962, it adopted the name "Shangri-La" as part of the corporate names of all
companies organized under the aegis of the Kuok Group of Companies (the Kuok
Group). The logo was first used by the Shangri-La Hotel Singapore when it
commissioned a Singaporean design artist, a certain Mr. William Lee, to
conceptualize and design the logo of the Shangri-La hotels. SIHM begins its hotel
business operations in the Philippines only on 1987. On the other hand, DGCI thru
its President and Chairman, Ramon Syhunliong reiterated the conception of the
mark and the logo as follows: The S-logo was one of two (2) designs given to him
in December 1982, scribbled on a piece of paper by a jeepney signboard artist
with an office somewhere in Balintawak. The unnamed artist supposedly produced
the two designs after about two or three days from the time he (Syhunliong) gave
the idea of the design he had in mind. He also said that he visited one of the
SIHM hotels as early as August 1982.
In this case, the RTC of Quezon City and the CA upheld the registration of
the DGCI before the Bureau of Patents, Trademarks and Technology Transfer
(BPTTT). It solely based its decision on the prior use and registration of the mark
and logo in the Philippines in contrast with the use of the SIHM which is
widespread but not in the Philippines not until 1987.
ISSUE:
Whether or not the prior use and registration should be the sole basis in
determining the proper recipient of a trademark.
RULING:
NO. Under the provisions of the former trademark law, R.A. No. 166, as
amended, which was in effect up to December 31, 1997, hence, the law in force at
the time of respondent's application for registration of trademark, the root of
ownership of a trademark is actual use in commerce. Section 2 of said law requires
that before a trademark can be registered, it must have been actually used in
commerce and service for not less than two months in the Philippines prior to the
filing of an application for its registration. Registration, without more, does not
confer upon the registrant an absolute right to the registered mark. The certificate
of registration is merely a prima facie proof that the registrant is the owner of the
registered mark or tradename. Evidence of prior and continuous use of the mark
or trade name by another can overcome the presumptive ownership of the
registrant and may very well entitle the former to be declared owner in an
appropriate case.
Among the effects of registration of a mark, as catalogued by the Court in

Lorenzana v. Macagba, are:
1. Registration in the Principal Register gives rise to a presumption of the

validity of the registration, the registrant's ownership of the mark, and his
right to the exclusive use thereof. x x x
2. Registration in the Principal Register is limited to the actual owner of the

trademark and proceedings therein pass on the issue of ownership, which
may be contested through opposition or interference proceedings, or,
after registration, in a petition for cancellation. xxx
Ownership of a mark or trade name may be acquired not necessarily by

registration but by adoption and use in trade or commerce. As between actual use
of a mark without registration, and registration of the mark without actual use
thereof, the former prevails over the latter. For a rule widely accepted and firmly
entrenched, because it has come down through the years, is that actual use in
commerce or business is a pre-requisite to the acquisition of the right of
ownership. By itself, registration is not a mode of acquiring ownership. When the
applicant is not the owner of the trademark being applied for, he has no right to
apply for registration of the same. Registration merely creates a prima facie
presumption of the validity of the registration, of the registrant's ownership of the
trademark and of the exclusive right to the use thereof.20 Such presumption, just
like the presumptive regularity in the performance of official functions, is
rebuttable and must give way to evidence to the contrary.
Here, respondent's own witness, Ramon Syhunliong, testified that a jeepney
signboard artist allegedly commissioned to create the mark and logo submitted his
designs only in December 1982. This was two-and-a-half months after the filing of
the respondent's trademark application on October 18, 1982 with the BPTTT. It
was also only in December 1982 when the respondent's restaurant was opened for
business. Respondent cannot now claim before the Court that the certificate
of registration itself is proof that the two-month prior use requirement was
complied with, what with the fact that its very own witness testified otherwise in
the trial court. And because at the time (October 18, 1982) the respondent filed its
application for trademark registration of the "Shangri-La" mark and "S" logo,
respondent was not using these in the Philippines commercially, the registration is
void.

Shangri-La v. DGCI

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Shangri-La v. DGCI

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

SHANGRI-LA INTERNATIONAL HOTEL MANAGEMENT, LTD.

Respondent Developers Group of Companies, Inc.(DGCI) caused the

Among the effects of registration of a mark, as catalogued by the Court in

1. Registration in the Principal Register gives rise to a presumption of the

2. Registration in the Principal Register is limited to the actual owner of the

Ownership of a mark or trade name may be acquired not necessarily by

You might also like