Suave Rizal or smooth Bonifacio? Liquor firm wants heroes for brands

An artist’s concept of how Destileria Limtuaco, Inc.’s proposed new labels may look like. MARK DIAMAT/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—Rizal is suave but Bonifacio is smoother.

What? Senator Pia Cayetano  is waging a battle against a Philippine liquor company’s proposal to name some of its brands after national heroes and historical sites.

Destileria Limtuaco, Inc. intends to register with the Intellectual Property Office the names of several Philippine heroes like Rizal, Bonifacio, and Gomburza as brand names for its alcoholic beverage products.

Cayetano is not pleased, saying such move “threatens to desecrate, misappropriate and trivialize their national and historic significance.”

“Dr. Jose Rizal, Gat Andres Bonifacio and the three martyred priests (Padre Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora) all laid their lives for the freedom and rights we enjoy today, and this is how Destileria Limtuaco intends to honor them?,” asked Cayetano, head of the Senate committee on education, arts and culture.

“Or are they simply taking advantage of their good names to reap the benefits by having their names and images emblazoned on their bottles of whisky, gin, brandy and rhum?”

Callous, un-Filipino 
 
“It boggles my mind that the corporate executives of this company are so callous and un-Filipino that they would appropriate the names of Philippine heroes and landmarks for use on their alcoholic products which are known vices,” she said.

Cayetano also strongly criticized the IPO for allowing the initial approval of DLI’s application to register “Intramuros,” as a liquor brand.

“I cannot understand how the IPO, a government agency that is tasked to uphold the law and the national interest, would allow the name of a national heritage site to be reduced into a brand of an intoxicating beverage? The IPO could have used its authority instead to reject the application outright,” she said.

“The trademark examiner has the discretion to deny an application during the substantive examination based on Section 123 of the Intellectual Property Code. If he or she denies it, then it will not be allowed for publication for purposes of opposition,” she further said.

The senator then noted the “very strict guidelines” of the Intellectual Property Code (Republic Act 8293), when registering a mark associated with names, national symbols and geographical areas.

Section 123.1.a  of the law states that a mark cannot be registered “if it consists of immoral, deceptive or scandalous matter, or matter which may disparage or falsely suggest a connection with persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt or disrepute.”

Cayetano said Section 123.1.g also provides that a mark cannot be registered if it “is likely to mislead the public, particularly as to the nature, quality, characteristics or geographical origin of the goods or services.”

Section 123.1.j likewise states that a mark cannot be registered if it “consists exclusively of signs or indications that may serve in trade to designate the geographic origin of the goods or rendering of the services, or other characteristics of the goods or services.”
 
‘Opportunistic’ 

As to DLI’s applications to register names of several provinces and cities, the senator particularly cited the application for “Tacloban” as “markedly opportunistic and insensitive.”

“A check with the IPO website would show that DLI’s application to register ‘Tacloban’ was filed last March 31, or just four months after Super Typhoon ‘Yolanda’ brought widespread destruction to that city. Its residents have barely recovered from the death of relatives, loss of homes, livelihoods and basic services,” Cayetano said.

“Tacloban has become a global symbol of Filipino resilience, hope, recovery and cooperation. And this liquor company has the gall to misappropriate it for selfish ends and corporate profits.”

Cayetano then threw her full support behind the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Intramuros Administration (IA) in opposing DLI’s trademark applications with the IPO.

“I trust that the IPO will rectify this glaring oversight on their part and immediately reject all the controversial trademark registration applications of DLI,” the senator added.

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Originally posted: 9:33 am | Wednesday, June 18th, 2014