Local perfume maker wins BFAD case vs rival firm

A local perfume company won its battle against a rival company when the Bureau of Food and Drugs ordered last May 6 the recall from the market all perfume stocks under the label Aficionado Eau de Toilette.

Sometime ago, a company named Lynx-Nia Medica, Inc. contracted Joselito Cruz as exclusive distributor of its product called Affirmative Eau de Toilette.

When the contract expired last Aug. 8, 2001, Cruz put up his own manufacturing outfit, using similarly-designed perfumery lines but labeled as Aficionado Eau de Toilette.

Last Oct. 20,2001, Lynx-Nia filed a case against Cruz for unauthorized use of a label similar to the complainants, and for inaccurate statement of quantity or content of its products.

BFAD Director William D. Torres said findings clearly showed that all Cruz labels are patterned after the Affirmative label, making it appear that these came from the same establishment and tending to confuse the buying public.

Findings by BFAD also show that Affirmative Eau de Toilette line of perfumery products are registered products of complainant Lynx-Nia Medica. On the other hand, the products of Aficionado Eau de Toilette lines have only pending initial applications.

"It is also clear that Aficionado products do not conform with the declared specifications and are therefore misbranded," he said.

Moreover, Torres said the Securities and Exchange Commission registration of Aficionado mentions only that its primary purpose is to engage in the business of trading goods not to manufacture cosmetic products.

"More significant and alarming is the finding that Cruz laboratory is situated in a commercial-residential area where people abound. This present a clear and imminent danger to the life and safety of residents in the areas," he said.