Kinansela ng Intellectual Property Office o IPO ang trademark registration ng Television and Production Exponents (TAPE), Inc. sa pangalang “Eat Bulaga” at “EB.”
Base sa desisyon ni Atty. Josephine Alon, Adjudication Officer ng Bureau of Legal Affairs ng IPO, nitong December 4, 2023, hindi napatunayan ng TAPE kung paano nila nabuo ang “EAT BULAGA” mark.
Samantala, nakapaglabas naman ng testimonya at eksplanasyon ang petitioners na sina Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, at Joey de Leon, kilala rin sa tawag na TVJ, kung paano nila nabuo ang EAT BULAGA kaya kinatigan sila ng korte.
Nakasaad sa bahagi ng desisyon, “Registrant-Registrant, for their part, did not refute nor contradict this statement on how Petitioners coined the term “EAT BULAGA” as title for a noontime show in 1979.
“In fact, Respondent-Registrant even corroborated with Petitioners explanation by averring “After their engagement, we thought of the name of the noontime show. I submitted several names to Romy including “Eat Bulaga” which was suggested by Joey.”
Ang “Romy” na tinutukoy sa dokumento ay si Romy Jalosjos, ang may-ari ng TAPE, ang producer ng longest-running noontime show na Eat Bulaga!, na umeere sa GMA–7.
Dagdag pa sa deisisyon, “Romy chose the name “Eat Bulaga” amongst the name in the list.
“Further, consistent to being true owner of the EAT BULAGA mark, Petitioners applied for registration of the mark with the Intellectual Property of the Philippines in February 2023 for Classes 16, 18, 21, 25 and 41.
“The old Trademark Law provided that “the owner from the goods, business, or services of others shall have the right to register the same…”
“Having sufficiently established how Petitioners coined the EAT BULAGA mark, it is Petitioners and not Respondent-Registrant who owns the mark.
“Considering that Petitioners are the owners, they have absolute and exclusive right to register the EAT BULAGA mark and all variations thereto including Sublect mark ‘Eat Bulaga” and EB mark, under its name.
“Wherefore, premises considered, the instant Petition for Cancellation is hereby GRANTED.”
Kinuha ng Philippine Entertainment Portal (PEP,ph) ang reaksiyon ng TAPE, sa pamamagitan ng spokesperson nilang si Atty. Maggie Abraham-Garduque.
Ayon kay Atty. Garduque, “TAPE’s handling lawyer for IPO cases, Atty. Siao, has not received a copy of said decision yet.
“But if this is true, under the rules TAPE can appeal this decision to the director of the BLA of IPO.
“If still unsatisfied with the decision of the director, they can still appeal it to the director general of the IPO.
“TAPE will avail of all legal actions/remedies to reverse this decision.”
