SC sides with majority owners in Gloria Maris trademark case

The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the cancellation of the certificates of registration over the Gloria Maris trademark by one of the company’s incorporators.

In a 15-page decision promulgated in May, the SC Third Division ordered the cancellation of the trademark consisting of the words “Gloria Maris” with a shark’s fin enclosed in a plate of an irregular shape in the name of Pacifico Q. Lim.

“It was bad faith on Lim’s part to reap the fruits of the goodwill built by the Gloria Maris brand when he registered the subject marks in his own name. Obviously, it was the corporation as a whole that built and established the brand,” the SC said in the decision penned by Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh.

“Consequently, the trademarks registered by Lim which bear the name ‘Gloria Maris’ have been unlawfully registered,” it added.

According to the court, the restaurant was registered in 1994 with the Securities and Exchange Commission with five incorporators, including Lim.

The Board of Directors later entrusted Lim with registering the trademark with the Intellectual Property Office. However, they found that the trademark was only registered in 2005 in Lim’s name.

Due to this, Gloria Maris sought the cancellation of the registration before the IPO Bureau of Legal Affairs (BLA).

The SC said that the BLA ruled in favor of Lim, prompting Gloria Maris to file an appeal before the Office of the Director General (ODG).

Though the ODG ruled in Gloria Maris’ favor, the Court of Appeals reinstated the ruling of the BLA in favor of Lim. 

This prompted Gloria Maris to file the present petition before the SC.

For its part, the SC found that Lim registered the trademark in bad faith.

The SC said that Gloria Maris was able to prove that it had been using the name years before Lim’s registration and that Lim knew about it. 

Lim, for his part, argued that he had already thought of the name “Gloria Maris” prior to its incorporation. He presented an affidavit as proof.

However, the SC said that the affidavit revealed that there was an existing restaurant that was supposed to be transferred into a Chinese restaurant called Gloria Maris.

“Since there was already a plan for a Chinese restaurant to be named Gloria Maris and to be renovated at the CCP area when Lim engaged with the services of Rodriguez, Lim’s claim that he thought of the name beggars belief,” it said.—LDF, GMA Integrated News