Trademark Law
Famous trademarks abroad and Reciprocity (IP Code of the Philippines)
Sec. 3. International Conventions and Reciprocity
Any person who is a national or who is domiciled or has a real and effective industrial establishment in a country which is a party to any convention, treaty or agreement relating to intellectual property rights or the repression of unfair competition, to which the Philippines is also a party, or extends reciprocal rights to nationals of the Philippines by law, shall be entitled to benefits to the extent necessary to give effect to any provision of such convention, treaty or reciprocal law, in addition to the rights to which any owner of an intellectual property right is otherwise entitled by this Act.
Supreme Court Rulings of aforementioned Copyright provision
Sehwani vs. In-N-Out Burger, G.R. No. 171053, October 15, 2007
Trademarks from U.S. companies are protected in the Philippines even if the U.S. Company has no presence here and that their trademarks are not registered in the Philippines. Based on the international treaties which the Philippines is a party to, the Paris Convention and the WIPO Joint Recommendation have the force and effect of law, for under Section 2, Article II of the Constitution, the Philippines adopts the generally accepted principles of international law as part of the law of the land. To rule otherwise would be to defeat the equitable consideration that no one other than the owner of the well-known mark shall reap the fruits of an honestly established goodwill.
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