RULE
1 DEFINITIONS,
INTERPRETATION; RULES OF COURT
Section 1. Definition
of terms. Unless otherwise indicated, the following terms shall be
understood as follows:
(a) "Answer"
means a pleading in which the adverse party sets forth the negative and
affirmative defenses upon which he relies;
(b) “Bureau”
means
the Bureau of Legal Affairs of the Intellectual Property Office;
(c) “Chief Hearing
Officer” means the officer within the Bureau who exercises
immediate
supervision over any Hearing Officer. His title or official
designation
may differ from the words “Chief Hearing Officer” depending on
the
structure of the Office;
(d) “Complaint”
means a concise statement of the ultimate facts constituting the
complainant’s
cause or causes of action. It shall specify the relief sought,
but
it may add a general prayer for such further or other relief as may be
just and equitable;
(e) “Court”
means a court of general jurisdiction such as Regional Trial
Court;
(f) “Director
General” means the head of the Intellectual Property Office;
(g) “Director”
means the Director of the Bureau of Legal Affairs;
(h) “False Designation
of Origin” means the act of any person who, on or in
connection
with any goods or services, or any container for goods, uses in
commerce
any word, term, name, symbol, or device, or any combination thereof, or
any false designation of origin, false or misleading description of
fact,
or false or misleading representation of fact, which: (a)
Is
likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive as to the
affiliation, connection, or association of such person with another
person,
or as to the origin, sponsorship, or approval of his or her goods,
services,
or commercial activities by another person; or (b) In
commercial
advertising or promotion, misrepresents the nature, characteristics,
qualities,
or geographic origin of his or her or another person’s goods, services
or commercial activities, shall be liable to a civil action for damages
and injunction provided in Sections 156 and 157 of the IP Code by any
person
who believes that he or she is likely to be damaged by such act. [Sec. 169, R. A. 8293]
(i) “False or
Fraudulent Declaration” means the act of any person who shall
procure
registration in the Office of a mark by a false or fraudulent
declaration
or representation, whether oral or writing, or by any false means.
(j) “Hearing Officer” means the officer within
the Bureau authorized to exercise
the functions
of “Hearing Officer” in these Regulations. The title or
official
designation of such officers may differ from the words “Hearing
Officer”
depending on the structure of the Office;
(k) “Infringement
of Copyright and Related Rights” means any violation of the rights
provided under Part IV of the IP Code and/or the applicable IP Law,
including
the act of any person who at the time when copyright subsists in a work
has in his possession an article which he knows, or ought to know, to
be
an infringing copy of the work for the purpose of: (a)
selling,
letting for hire, or by way of trade offering or exposing for sale, or
hire, the article; (b) distributing the article for purpose
of trade, or for any other purpose to an extent that will prejudice the
rights of the copyright owner in the work; or (c)
Trade
exhibit of the article in public.
(l) “Infringement
of Patent” means any violation of any of the rights of
patentees
and holders of utility model patents and industrial design
registrations
under Part II of the IP Code and/or the applicable IP Law, including
the
act of making, using, offering for sale, selling, or importing a
patented product or a product obtained directly or indirectly from a
patented
process, or the use of a patented process without the authorization of
the patentee.
(m) “Infringement
of Mark” means any violation of any of the rights of the registered
owner under Part III of the IP Code and/or the applicable IP Law,
including
the act of any person who shall, without the consent of the owner of
the
registered mark and regardless of whether there is actual sale of goods
or services using the infringing material:
1. Use in
commerce
any reproduction, counterfeit, copy, or colorable imitation of a
registered
mark or the same container or a dominant feature thereof in connection
with the sale, offering for sale, distribution, advertising of any
goods
or services including other preparatory steps necessary to carry out
the
sale of any goods or services on or in connection with which such use
is
likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive; or
2.
Reproduce, counterfeit,
copy or colorably imitate a registered mark or a dominant feature
thereof
and apply such reproduction, counterfeit, copy or colorable imitation
to
labels, signs, prints, packages, wrappers, receptacles or
advertisements
intended to be used in commerce upon or in connection with the sale,
offering
for sale, distribution, or advertising of goods or services on or
in connection with which such use is likely to cause confusion, or to
cause
mistake, or to deceive; (n) “Intellectual
Property Rights” include:
a)
Copyright
and Related Rights;
b)
Trademarks and
Service Marks;
c)
Geographic Indications;
d)
Industrial Designs;
e)
Patents;
f)
Layout-Designs
(Topographies) of Integrated Circuits; and
g)
Undisclosed Information (o) “IP
Code” means
Republic Act No. 8293 otherwise known as the Intellectual Property Code
of the Philippines;
(p) “IP
Law” means
any law, in addition to the IP Code, involving intellectual property
rights;
(q) “Office”
means the Intellectual Property Office;
(r) “Regulations”
means this set of rules and regulations and such Regulations as may be
formulated by the Director of Legal Affairs and approved by the
Director
General.
(s) “Unfair
Competition” means the act of any person who shall employ
deception
or any other means contrary to good faith by which he shall pass off
the
goods manufactured by him or in which he deals, or his business, or
services
for those of the one having established such goodwill, or who shall
commit
any acts calculated to produce said result.
The
following shall
likewise constitute unfair competition:
1) The act
of selling
ones goods and giving them the general appearance of goods of another
manufacturer
or dealer, either as to the goods themselves or in the wrapping of the
packages in which they are contained, or the devices or words thereon,
or in any other feature of their appearance, which would be likely to
influence
purchasers to believe that the goods offered are those of a
manufacturer
or dealer, or the act of clothing the goods with such appearance as
shall
deceive the public and defraud another of his legitimate trade, or the
act of reselling the goods by any subsequent vendor with a like
purpose.
2) The
act of employing
any other means, by artifice or device, calculated to induce the false
belief that a person is offering the services of another who has
identified
such services in the mind of the public.
3) The
act of making
any false statement in the course of trade or any act contrary to good
faith of a nature calculated to discredit the goods, business or
services
of another. [Section 168, IP Code]
(t) “Violation of
laws involving intellectual property rights mentioned in Rule 2 Section
2” means violation of any law relating to the intellectual
property
rights enumerated under Section 4 of IP Code.
Section 2. Interpretation. These
Regulations shall be liberally
construed to
carry out the objectives of the IP Code and IP Laws and to assist the
parties
in obtaining just and expeditious settlement or disposition of
administrative
cases filed before the Office.
Section 3. Suppletory
application of the Rules of Court. These Regulations shall
primarily
govern in the prosecution of administrative complaints in the
Bureau.
The provisions of the Rules of Court, however, shall apply in a
suppletory
character.
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