San Miguel wins trademark case in US

San Miguel Corp. has won a trademark case against Ramar International Corp. regarding the use of the “Magnolia” brand for butter, margarine, and cheese products sold in the United States.

 

A ruling by the United States Court of Appeals late last week covers the use of Magnolia by San Miguel Pure Foods Company Inc. and Magnolia Inc., San Miguel said in a statement late Wednesday.

 

This comes after the same court reversed an earlier injunction issued by a US district court preventing San Miguel from using the Magnolia brand.

 

The US appellate court recognized that the Philippine conglomerate has used the “Magnolia” brand on its food products to cater to the Filipino market and not ride on the success of the Ramar Magnolia brand.

 

In the statement, San Miguel said that the court has recognized that the company has been marketing its products to “invoke the goodwill that San Miguel built in the Philippines, not the goodwill created by Ramar in the US.”

 

The US Court noted that Ramar’s president admitted on record that the company originally adopted the “Magnolia” brand name to “leverage the existing strength of San Miguel’s Magnolia brand” to promote sales of its Filipino-style ice cream in the US.

 

Ramar International Corp. is a US-based food company which markets ice cream under the Magnolia brand name. – Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VS, GMA News