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IP News
The Jeans Aren't From Harvard! The firm said its trademark had been acquired through actual commercial use since 1982. “A trademark is acquired by adoption and [its] use in commerce in the Philippines. It belongs to the person who first gave it value,” the denim maker said. The President and Fellows of Harvard College sued Harvard Jeans, saying the name could not be separated from the educational institution. Harvard University is a renowned private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts Legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the US. Harvard Jeans’ predecessor, the New York Garments Manufacturing & Export Co., Inc., first used the Harvard mark on Jan. 2, 1982 on its jeans, slacks, jackets, T-shirts and other ready-to-wear apparel. The trademark was registered in the company’s name by the then Bureau of Patents, Trademarks and Technology Transfer on Dec. 12, 1988. In 2005, siding with the jeans maker, the IPO's Bureau of Legal Affairs said Harvard University marks and other logos were based alone on home registration – in the United States. These have not been actually used for commercial purposes in the Philippines, it said. But the IPO’s Office of the Director General reversed the decision. “Traced to its roots or origin, Harvard is not an ordinary word. It refers to no other than Harvard University, a recognized and respected institution of higher learning located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA,” the director general said. It added that the jean maker did not provide enough evidence on how it first came to use the name and that Harvard University had authorized it to use the name. Harvard Jeans cited the so-called principle of territoriality, which implies that different owners of an identical trademark can each have his own exclusive right in his own country. “In acquiring a trademark, [it is] not just ordinary commercial use of the mark [that] is acquired, [but also] the actual use of the mark in the Philippines,” Fredco Manufacturing said. Source: Business World, 26 May 2008, by Ira P. Pedrasa
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