By Erwin Oliva
INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines–Following the news that Rivermaya has parted ways with its manager Liza Nakpil, a controversy over who owns the Rivermaya trademark has started brewing.
A check with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) website shows that former manager Liza Nakpil has applied for the trademark “Rivermaya” on July 7, 2008 under the “Entertainment” classification of goods.
According to the IPO, the trademark application of Nakpil is “for updating,” which, according to intellectual property expert and lawyer Jun Rodriguez, indicates that the application is awaiting publication.
Meanwhile, the same search on the trademark “Riverymaya” produces another applicant, Mark Edward Escueta who is a member of the band. A closer look reveals that his application is still “pending.”
Escueta applied for trademark application on October 10, 2008, and has classified the trademark name “Rivermaya” under “clothing, footwear, headgear” and “entertainment.”
In all trademark applications, the rule of thumb is “first to file,” Rodriguez added.
As of this writing, officials at the Bureau of Trademarks of the IPO are unavailable for comment.
4 Feedbacks on "Who owns the ‘Rivermaya’ name?"
Atty. Rod Vera
If this issue ripens to a case, it will be a first for the Philippines. While the rule of thumb is the “first to file”, there are other avenues such as “first to use” and “prior goodwill” to counter against “first to file”.
In trademark law, confusion as to source is a cause of action. Whether the people recognize the manager or the past/current members of the band as the source of Rivermaya could be determining factor on who wins.
memel
as far as i know mr. escueta’s rivermaya can be approved under if its only under the goods of clothing, footwear and head gear.. but since ms. nakpil already filed rivermaya under entertainment, escueta can no longer use same mark under entertianment..
barbie
if it’s true that liza nakpil and chito rono thought of the name rivermaya in the first place, then the band members don’t have any right to own it. they were hired to be band members and now that they want out they also want the name?
if escueta et al are so sure of themselves, they should form a new band with a new name - just like bamboo did.
jake
hmmm.. interesting.
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