<\/p>\n
Intellectual Property law continues to develop progressively as the Belize Intellectual Property Office has issued its latest opposition ruling in the matter of British American Tobacco (Brands) Limited v. Philip Morris Products S.A.(Application No. 5754.08).<\/p>\n
This matter dealt with an opposition lodged by British American Tobacco against a trademark application filed by Philip Morris on the issue of distinctiveness, and lack thereof. British American Tobacco argued that the Philip Morris mark in question contravened the Trade Marks Act, Chapter 257 of the Laws of Belize, Revised Edition 2000, in particular section 35(1)(b) which states:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe following shall not be registered\u2026 trademarks which are devoid of any distinctive character\u2026Provided that, a trade mark shall not be refused registration by virtue of [section 35(1)(b)] if, before the date of application for registration, it has in fact acquired a distinctive character as a result of the use made of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Deputy Registrar of Belipo, upon hearing the submissions of counsel on behalf of both parties found that the Philip Morris mark was neither distinctive as it was incapable of distinguishing the goods to which it had applied, nor had it acquired distinctive use within the meaning of the Trade Marks Act.<\/p>\n
BAT has not only conducted a successful opposition against Philip Morris, it has also achieved victory in defending an opposition brought against it by Philip Morris in the prior matter of Philip Morris Products S.A. v British American Tobacco (Brands) Limited (Application No.5082.07). A victory which was confirmed in the landmark judgment of Civil Appeal 1 of 2009, the very first trade mark opposition that was appealed to conclusion at the Belize Supreme Court with one of the last judgments issued by Belize\u2019s former eminent Chief Justice Dr. Abdulai Conteh.<\/p>\n
Morgan Belize, through Legal Counsel Rishi Alain Mungal, was pleased to represent its client, British American Tobacco at the opposition proceedings and assist with this successful decision.<\/p>\n
A full text of British American Tobacco (Brands) Limited v. Philip Morris Products S.A.(Application No. 5754.08) is available here.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
La Ley de Propiedad Intelectual continua desarroll\u00e1ndose progresivamente al momento en que la Oficina de Propiedad Intelectual de Belice emite su \u00faltima sentencia de oposici\u00f3n en el caso de British American Tobacco (Brands) Limited vs. Philip Morris Products S.A. (Solicitud no. 5754.08).<\/p>\n
Este asunto trata de una demanda de oposici\u00f3n presentada por British American Tobacco contra una solicitud de marca de f\u00e1brica presentada por Philip Morris concerniente al tema del car\u00e1cter distintivo o falta del mismo. British American Tobacco argument\u00f3 que la marca de Philip Morris en cuesti\u00f3n iba contra la Ley de Marcas de F\u00e1brica, Cap\u00edtulo 257 de las Leyes de Belice, Versi\u00f3n Actualizada del 2000, en especial la secci\u00f3n 35(1)(b) la cual estipula:<\/p>\n
\u201cNo deber\u00e1 registrarse lo siguiente\u2026 marcas de f\u00e1brica que carezcan de un car\u00e1cter distintivo\u2026 Siempre que, el registro de una marca de f\u00e1brica no se rechace en virtud de la [secci\u00f3n 35(1)(b)] si, previo a la fecha de solicitud de registro, \u00e9sta ha de hecho adquirido un car\u00e1cter distintivo como resultado del uso que se hace de ella.\u201d<\/p>\n
El Sub Registrador de Propiedad Intelectual de Belice, al escuchar las presentaciones de los abogados en nombre de ambas partes encontr\u00f3 que la marca Philip Morris no era ni distintiva ya que no pod\u00eda distinguir los art\u00edculos a los que hab\u00eda aplicado, ni hab\u00eda adquirido un uso distintivo dentro del significado de la Ley de Marcas de F\u00e1brica.<\/p>\n
BAT no solo llev\u00f3 a cabo una oposici\u00f3n exitosa contra Philip Morris sino que tambi\u00e9n alcanz\u00f3 la victoria en la defensa de una demanda de oposici\u00f3n presentada contra ella por Philip Morris en la acci\u00f3n anterior de Philip Morris Products S.A. vs. British American Tobacco (Brands) Limited (Solicitud no. 5082.07). Una victoria confirmada en una sentencia sin precedentes de la Apelaci\u00f3n Civil 1 del 2009, la primera demanda de oposici\u00f3n de marca de f\u00e1brica apelada hasta su conclusi\u00f3n en la Corte Suprema de Belice, uno de cuyos \u00faltimos fallos fue emitido por el eminente ex Presidente de la Corte Suprema de Belice, Dr. Abdulai Conteh.<\/p>\n
Morgan Belice a trav\u00e9s de su asesor legal Rishi Alain Mungal se sinti\u00f3 complacida de representar a su cliente, British American Tobacco en el proceso de oposici\u00f3n y asistir en la exitosa decisi\u00f3n.<\/p>\n
El texto completo de British American Tobacco (Brands) Limited vs. Philip Morris Products S.A. (Solicitud no. 5754.08) est\u00e1 disponible aqu\u00ed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Intellectual Property law continues to develop progressively as the Belize Intellectual Property Office has issued its latest opposition ruling in the matter of British American Tobacco (Brands) Limited v. Philip Morris Products S.A.(Application No. 5754.08). This matter dealt with an opposition lodged by British American Tobacco against a trademark application filed by Philip Morris on<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4728,459],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/morimor.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23981"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/morimor.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/morimor.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morimor.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morimor.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23981"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/morimor.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34752,"href":"https:\/\/morimor.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23981\/revisions\/34752"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morimor.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/morimor.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morimor.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morimor.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}