PHILIPPINES Law and Practice Contributed by: Mark Leo Bejemino, Maria Patricia Cruz and Edward King Chua, Villaraza & Angangco
case to claim damages. Instead, third parties must file a separate claim for damages in a new action, independent of the original proceedings. 5.5 Legal Costs The prevailing party may recover legal costs, sub ‑ ject to the court’s discretion to determine, reduce or otherwise modify the amount. Where the court finds that an action or appeal is frivolous, it may impose costs in double or treble the usual amount. Any alle ‑ gation in a pleading made without reasonable cause and subsequently found to be untrue may render the offending party liable for the reasonable expenses necessarily incurred by the opposing party as a result thereof. Such expenses shall be fixed by the court and taxed as costs. Furthermore, where the record contains unnecessary, irrelevant or immaterial mat ‑ ters, the party at whose instance such matters were included or printed shall not be allowed to recover, as costs, any expenses incurred for its preparation, certification or printing. Under Philippine rules, attorney’s fees shall not form part of the legal cost, being an independent undertak ‑ ing between the party and his or her lawyer. Nonethe ‑ less, attorney’s fees may be claimed as part of actual damages subject to the submission of evidence of the pecuniary amount. 5.6 Relevance of Claimant/Plaintiff Conduct to Relief Subject to the discretion of the court, the negative conduct of the claimant/plaintiff may be taken into consideration in determining the amount of damages or costs to which he or she shall be entitled.
Otherwise, the brand names will be deemed generic and not registrable. 6.2 Copyright While copyright disputes involving life sciences and the pharma sector are not common in the Philippines, product packaging and drug package inserts – which are protected as copyrightable works – may give rise to copyright infringement. 6.3 Trade Secrets Trade secret disputes involving life sciences and the pharma sector are not common in the Philippines. However, since product formulations can be protect ‑ ed as a trade secret through contractual agreement, breach of said agreement may give rise to a trade secret dispute. Generally, an appeal is a matter of right in the Philip ‑ pines. However, a further appeal of a decision ren ‑ dered on an appealed case becomes discretionary. An order granting a preliminary injunction may be dissolved upon a motion showing that, although the applicant is entitled to the injunction, the issuance or continuance thereof would cause irreparable damage to the enjoined party, while the applicant can be fully compensated for any damages they may suffer, pro ‑ vided that they file a bond. The motion to dissolve shall be set for hearing within 48 hours from its filing, and shall be resolved after both parties have present ‑ ed their respective evidence. However, the denial of an application for a preliminary injunction is not appealable, nor is an order dissolv ‑ ing a previously issued injunction or denying a motion to dissolve. Nonetheless, the aggrieved party may challenge such order by filing a Petition for Certiorari with the Court of Appeals within 60 days from notice of the order, alleging that the issuance thereof was attended by grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction. It must be emphasised that a Petition for Certiorari constitutes a separate and independent action, and not a continuation or appeal 7. Appeal 7.1 Timeframe to Appeal Decision
6. Other IP Rights 6.1 Trade Marks
Trade mark disputes involving life sciences and the pharma sector are common in the Philippines, and usually involve the registrability of brand names of medicines under the IP Code. Aside from the dis ‑ tinctiveness requirement, brand names of medicines should not be identical or similar to any of the word stems listed as International Nonproprietary Names.
171 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook