The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) has canceled the Television and Production Exponents, Inc.’ s (TAPE Inc.) trademark registration of Eat Bulaga.
According to IPOPHIL, TAPE Inc. failed to provide context on how they came up with the term EAT BULAGA as title for the noontime show back in 1979.
“Respondent-Registrant TAPE Inc.’s existing trademark registrations over the marks ‘Eat Bulaga and EB’ and ‘EB’ should be cancelled as they were obtained in contravention of the provisions of R.A. No. 8293 or the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (IP Code),” read IPOPHL’s decision released on Monday, December 4.
On the other hand, petitioners Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon managed to attest their ownership claim over the EAt Bulaga trademark.
“Having sufficiently established how Petitioners coined the EAT BULAGA mark, it is Petitioners and not Respondent-Registrant who owns the mark,” IPOPHL stated.
It added, “Considering that Petitioners are the owners, they have absolute and exclusive right to register the EAT BULAGA mark and all variations thereto, including the subject mark ‘Eat Bulaga’ mark and the ‘EB’ mark, under its name.”
Reacting to the news, Tito Sotto wrote in a Facebook post: “Praise God. Salamat sa goat sa aming panalangin”.
In a statement sent to The Philippine STAR’s Entertainment Section, TAPE Inc.’s legal counsel Atty. Maggi Abraham-Garduque stressed that the production company “will avail of all legal actions or remedies to reverse this decision.
While TAPE Inc.’s handling lawyer for IPOPHL cases, Atty. Siao has yet to receive a copy of the said decision, Garduque relayed that TAPE Inc. can appeal the decision to the director of the the director of the Bureau of Legal authorities of [IPOPHL].
“If still unsatisfied with the decision of the director, they can still appeal it to the director general of the IPO,” said Garduque.
It can be recalled that IPOPHL granted the Eat Bulaga trademark renewal to TAPE Inc. last June 14 and effective until June 14, 2033.
The original Eat Bulaga hosts, Tito, Vic, and Joey, or TVJ, meanwhile, filed copyright infringement charges against TAPE, Inc in June after TAPE and GMA Network aired and replayed some episodes of their show.
TVJ, along with other legit Dabarkads, parted ways with TAPE Inc., their former blocktime producer in May after almost 44 years.
To date, TVJ appears on their new show titled E.A.T. on TV5 while Eat Bulaga currently airs on GMA Network with a new set of hosts.
