CA gives green light to indict Kentex execs over ‘imitation’ sandals

The Court of Appeals has ordered the indictment of officers of Kentex Corp., the slipper factory who lost 72 workers to a deadly fire incident earlier this year, for selling alleged knock-offs of a popular sandal brand.

In a 10-page decision penned by Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando, the CA’s Fifth Division granted a petition from Sao Paolo Alpargatas S.A. (SPASA) seeking to reverse and set aside resolutions from the Department of Justice dated May 28, 2013 and December 5, 2013.

The DOJ rulings upheld a resolution from the Office of the City Prosecutor (OCP) of Caloocan that dismissed SPASA's case against Ong King Guan and Mary Grace Ching, Kentex’s treasurer/general manager and corporate secretary, respectively.

SPASA is a Brazil-based firm and registered owner of the “Havaianas” brand. The company's products are made available to the Philippine market through its exclusive distributor here, Terry S.A. Inc.

In its complaint, SPASA accused Kentex officers of trademark infringement and sought damages, insisting that Kentex’s “Havana” sandals are colorable imitations of the marks owned and registered under the name of SPASA.

SPASA said the DOJ committed grave abuse of discretion when it affirmed the Caloocan prosecutor's office's dismissal of its complaint.

In its ruling concurred in by Associate Justices Jose Reyes and Stephen Cruz, the CA's Fifth Division sided with SPASA and overturned the DOJ and OCP's dismissal.

“In the present case, we are convinced that there clearly exist facts sufficient to engender a well-founded belief that the offense of trademark infringement has been committed and that private respondents are probably guilty thereof,” the CA said.

It also ordered the OCP to file an Information charging Guan and Ching, "as owners/officers/employees of Kentex Manufacturing Corporation (Kentex) with trademark infringement under Sec. 155 of Republic Act No. 8293, as amended.”

The DOJ, last July, recommended pressing criminal and administrative charges against Kentex officers and local city officials over the deadly fire incident that happened inside a two-storey factory in Valenzuela City last May.

To help the survivors and families of the fire victims, Kentex earlier promised to pay them P8,000 each. The amount is a standardized form of backpay, according to the company’s lawyer.

Kentex was also supposed to have given P5,000 initial cash assistance to the families. It also had promised to shoulder the forensic tests to identify the heavily burned bodies and the medical expenses of the injured survivors. —KBK, GMA News