Tuloy ang tulong at saya: TAPE Inc., naglabas ng pahayag tungkol sa pagkansela sa 'Eat Bulaga' trademark

May nilinaw ang Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) tungkol sa inilabas na desisyon ng Bureau of Legal Affairs (BLA) nito tungkol sa pagkansela sa trademark registrations para sa "Eat Bulaga" at "EB" ng Television and Production Exponents Inc. (TAPE) ay maaari pang ma-appeal.

Sa desisyon noong December 4, ipinagkaloob ng BLA ng IPOPHL ang petisyon nina Tito at Vic Sotto, at Joey de Leon, kilala bilang TVJ, na ipakansela ang trademark registrations para sa "Eat Bulaga" at "EB" ng TAPE, na inisyu noong June 14, 2013.

“Wherefore, premises considered, the instant Petition for Cancellation is hereby granted. Accordingly, Certificate of Registration No. 4-2011-005951 issued on 14 June 2013 for the trademark [Eat Bulaga]…is hereby cancelled. Let the filewrapper of the subject trademark registration be returned, together with a copy of this Decision, to the Bureau of Trademarks for information and appropriate action,” nakasaad sa desisyong isinulat ni Adjudication Officer Josephine Alon ng BLA.

Naglabas naman ng pahayag ang IPOPHL ngayong December 6. Nakasaad sa pahayag, “On recent queries regarding the cancellation of the Television and Production Exponents Inc. (TAPE) registration of the “EAT BULAGA” and “EB” trademarks No. 4-2011-005951 and No. 4-2011-005950, respectively, IPOPHL confirms that the petitions for cancellation were granted last December 4, 2023, and the decisions were received by the parties on December 5, 2023.”

“As provided for under the Bureau of Legal Affairs (BLA) procedures, the cases initially underwent compulsory mediation. As the parties failed to settle, the petitions were referred to adjudication at which stage hearings were held to inspect and compare the parties’ respective evidence, followed by submission of position papers. After which, the Adjudication Officer rendered the decisions.”

Ayon sa IPOPHL, maaari pang i-apela ang desisyon sa BLA Director sa loob ng 15 na araw mula sa pagkakatanggap ng desisyon. Matapos nito, maaari ding i-apela ang desisyon ng BLA Director sa Director General sa loob ng 30 araw.

“The decisions of the Adjudication Officer may be appealed to the BLA Director within 15 days from receipt of the decisions. In turn, the appellate decisions of the BLA Director may be appealed to the IPOPHL Director General within 30 days from receipt of the copy of the BLA Director’s decisions.”

Matapos ang press conference ng TVJ ngayong araw, hiningi naman namin ang panig ng TAPE Inc. sa pamamagitan ng legal counsel nito na si Atty. Maggie Abraham-Garduque.

Pahayag ni Atty. Maggie, “Nirerespeto ng TAPE ang batas kaya it will follow the procedure.

“Katulad nga po ng ipinalabas na statement ng IPOPHIL ngayong araw, TAPE has a period of 15 days to appeal the decision of the hearing officer to the director of the IPO.

Klinaro ng legal counsel ng TAPE, “Hindi pa po final ang decision kaya hindi po pwede pagbawalan ng TVJ ang TAPE na gamitin ang Eat Bulaga.

“Ilalaban po ito ng TAPE hindi para sa kanila kundi para sa kapakanan ng mahigit 200 employees nila na umaasa sa show at para sa mga kababayan natin na hangad ang tulong at saya.

“Nagpapasalamat ang TAPE sa lahat ng patuloy na naniniwala at hindi umiiwan sa kanila sa pagsubok na ito.”