Court favors Burlington in logo dispute with Puma

THE Court of Appeals (CA) has denied the motion of Puma SE to allow the registration of its “D with jumping cat” logo for its resemblance to the logo of Burlington Industries Philippines, Inc.

In its decision dated March 10, the court affirmed its ruling dated July 17, 2020 that the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines erred in allowing the registration of the Puma logo.

The CA affirmed that the Puma logo may mislead the public that it is the Burlington logo due their similar dominant image of the black jumping cat.

The CA stated in its decision that Puma’s logo “is not entitled to be registered as it will possibly raise instances of confusion or deception on the part of the public.”

The intellectual property office’s ruling in 2020 reversed the final resolution of the Supreme Court that Burlington is the prior user and rightful owner of the logo, over which it has trademark rights for more than 30 years. — Bianca Angelica D. Añago