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    Compania Gral de Tabacco v. Alhambra Cigar, 33 Phil 485

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    The plaintiff claimed exclusive rights to use the word "Isabelas" based on its long-time use of the trade name "La Flor de la Isabela" and the popular contraction of that name to "Isabela". However, the court found that [1] the plaintiff did not register "Isabela" as a trade name and did not have exclusive rights to use a geographical term, and [2] the evidence did not show that the plaintiff had exclusively used "Isabela" alone on its products over time. Therefore, the defendant's use of "Alhambra Isabelas" on its cigarette packages did not infringe on the plaintiff's trade name.

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    Compania Gral de Tabacco v. Alhambra Cigar, 33 Phil 485

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    The plaintiff claimed exclusive rights to use the word "Isabelas" based on its long-time use of the trade name "La Flor de la Isabela" and the popular contraction of that name to "Isabela". However, the court found that [1] the plaintiff did not register "Isabela" as a trade name and did not have exclusive rights to use a geographical term, and [2] the evidence did not show that the plaintiff had exclusively used "Isabela" alone on its products over time. Therefore, the defendant's use of "Alhambra Isabelas" on its cigarette packages did not infringe on the plaintiff's trade name.

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    The plaintiff claimed exclusive rights to use the word "Isabelas" based on its long-time use of the trade name "La Flor de la Isabela" and the popular contraction of that name to "Isabela". However, the court found that [1] the plaintiff did not register "Isabela" as a trade name and did not have exclusive rights to use a geographical term, and [2] the evidence did not show that the plaintiff had exclusively used "Isabela" alone on its products over time. Therefore, the defendant's use of "Alhambra Isabelas" on its cigarette packages did not infringe on the plaintiff's trade name.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    47 views2 pages

    Compania Gral de Tabacco v. Alhambra Cigar, 33 Phil 485

    Uploaded by

    Sky Test
    The plaintiff claimed exclusive rights to use the word "Isabelas" based on its long-time use of the trade name "La Flor de la Isabela" and the popular contraction of that name to "Isabela". However, the court found that [1] the plaintiff did not register "Isabela" as a trade name and did not have exclusive rights to use a geographical term, and [2] the evidence did not show that the plaintiff had exclusively used "Isabela" alone on its products over time. Therefore, the defendant's use of "Alhambra Isabelas" on its cigarette packages did not infringe on the plaintiff's trade name.

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    CASE DIGEST: COMPAÑIA GENERAL DE TABACOS

    DE FILIPINAS vs. ALHAMBRA CIGAR AND


    CIGARETTE MANUFACTURING CO.
    FACTS:

                It is admitted that plaintiff’s trade name as evidenced by the


    certificate issued under the Spanish regime, consists solely of the words
    “La Flor de la Isabela”. Plaintiff does not claim that the word “Isabela” has
    been registered by it as a trade name or that it has a title from any source
    conferring on it the exclusive right to use that word.

                Defendant began the manufacture of cigarettes, offering them to the


    public in packages on the front side of each of which appeared the words
    “Alhambra Isabelas”.

                Action is brought to enjoin the defendant from using the word
    “Isabelas”.

                The exclusive right to use this name, plaintiff claim arises from two
    causes: First, the contraction of the phrase “La Flor de la Isabela” into the
    word “Isabela” by popular expression and use; and second, the use for
    more than twenty years of the word “Isabela”.

                Judgment was for plaintiff and defendant appealed.

    ISSUE:

                Whether defendant’s use of the word “Alhambra Isabela” is an


    infringement to the use of trade name.

    HELD:

                The statute prohibits the registration of a trade name when the
    trade name represents the geographical place of production or origin of the
    products or goods to which the trade name refers, or when it is merely the
    name, quality or description of the merchandise with respect to which the
    trade name is to be used. In such cases, therefore, no trade name can
    exist.
                The two claims of the plaintiff are identical; for, there could have
    been no contraction brought about by popular expression except after long
    lapse of time. The contraction of the phrase in to the word would create no
    rights, there being no registration, unless it resulted from long use.

                The opinion of the plaintiff must fail. It shows that in not a single
    instance in the history of the plaintiff corporation, so far as is disclosed by
    the record, has a package of its cigarettes gone into the market, either at
    wholesale or retail with the word “Isabela” alone on the package as a
    separate or distinct word or name.

                Even admitting that the word “Isabela” may have been appropriable
    by plaintiff as a trade name at the time it began to use it, the evidence
    showing that it had been exclusively appropriated by the plaintiff would
    have to be very strong to establish the fact of appropriation and the right to
    exclusive use. The law as it stands and has stood since the Royal Decree
    of 1888 prohibits the use of a geographical name as a trade name.

                The judgment appealed from is reversed.

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