Japan’s Daiso secures Phl trademark rights

MANILA, Philippines - Japanese firm Daiso Industries has won the right to use the trademark Daiso in the Philippines against local firm Japan Home Center.

In its final ruling, the Supreme Court (SC) has issued an order preventing Japan Home Center from using the Daiso trademark, affirming an earlier decision by the Court of Appeals (CA) that the local firm registered the trademark “in bad faith.”

The SC said Japan Home Center was unable to offer any plausible reason why it chose to use the word Daiso as its trademark.

It created an impression that Japan Home Center’s goods were also sourced from Daiso Industries, the High Court said.

Daiso Industries said Japan Home Center’s use of the Daiso name was fraudulent, claiming it had intended to “ride on the pre-existing goodwill and to feign an affiliation with the Daiso name.”

Daiso Industries is well known in at least 30 countries, including the Philippines, and it is the long-time prior user of the Daiso trademark since 1977.

The CA earlier said Daiso Industries trademark is protected by the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.

“Any mark which is confusingly similar must be struck down or refused registration,” the CA said.

Daiso Industries, Japan’s leading price-point store, filed a complaint in 2009 with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to clear as to who exactly holds the exclusive right to use the Daiso brand in the Philippines.

At the same year, it appointed Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. as its authorized distributor.

Robinsons Retail’s 38 Daiso Japan stores are the only stores that sell products bearing the authentic Daiso mark, the Japanese firm said.

In January this year, the IPO issued a ruling again favoring Daiso Industries in a case against another local retailer named MySmart One-Shop Daiso in using the Daiso brand.