CA says Pasig resto can't retain 'Wok-Inn' tag

CA says Pasig resto can't retain 'Wok-Inn' tag

By Leila Salaverria
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:32:00 06/01/2008

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MANILA, Philippines--The Court of Appeals has rejected a petition filed by the owners of a Pasig restaurant asking the court to let them retain their establishment's name.

In a May 13 decision penned by Justice Monina Arevalo-Zenarosa, the court said the owners of the Original Wok-Inn Inc. should not use the name "Wok-Inn," saying it would only confuse the public.

The ruling upheld a lower court decision favoring Rosita Villarosa who opened the first Wok-Inn restaurant in 1980 and registered the trade name "Godmother Wok-Inn" with the Department of Trade and Industry in 1985.

She has since opened several Wok-Inn restaurants in Metro Manila.

According to the appellate court, the use of the word "Wok-Inn" in the restaurant name, though preceded by the word "Original," would only confuse the public and make them believe that the establishment is part of the Wok-Inn chain of restaurants.

It noted that officers of the Original Wok-Inn seemed to be riding on Wok-Inn's popularity.

"Record discloses no reasonable explanation for defendants-appellants' use of the word 'Wok-Inn' in its trade name. Such unexplained use by defendants-appellants of the dominant word of the plaintiff-appellee's [Villarosa's] corporate name lends itself open to the suspicion of fraudulent motive to use plaintiff-appellee's reputation," the court said.

In 1997, Villarosa's former restaurant manager, Delilah Bartolome, and assistant cook Baltazar Banzon resigned and became the Original Wok-Inn's business manager and kitchen supervisor.

The firm opened a restaurant with the same name in Pasig City the following year.

This prompted Villarosa to file a case against the firm's officers, accusing them of unfair competition and violating the Intellectual Property Code.

The corporation's officers, for their part, said that their establishment was named after a popular California restaurant.

They explained that they added the term "original" because theirs was the first restaurant to open on the Rosario Ortigas Avenue Extension in Pasig City.