G.R. No.

L-44707 August 31, 1982

HICKOK MANUFACTURING CO., INC., petitioner, vs.
COURT OF APPEALS and SANTOS LIM BUN LIONG, respondents.
TEEHANKEE, J.:
Facts:
Petitioner Hickok Manufacturing Co., (Hickok), is a foreign corporation, which the registered the
trademark HICKOK for its diverse articles of leather wallets, key cases, money folds made of leather,
belts, mens briefs, neckties, handkerchiefs and mens socks. On the other hand, Lim Bun Liong
(respondent) is registrant of a trademark of the same name HICKOK for its Marikina shoes. Hickok filed
a petition to cancel the respondents registration of the trademark. The Director of Patent granted the
petition of Hickok, but on appeal the Court of Appeals reversed the directors decision and dismissed
Hickoks original petition for cancellation on the ground that the trademarks of petitioner and that of
the registrant were different in design and coloring of, as well as in the words on the ribbons. Hence,
this present appeal.

Issue:
Whether or not the registration of Lim Bun Liongs trademark for his Hickok Marikina shoes can be
allowed.

Held:
The Court affirmed the appellate courts decision. While the law does not require that the competing
trademarks be identical, the two marks must be considered in their entirety, as they appear in the
respective labels, in relation to the goods to which they are attached.

Emphasis should be on the similarity of the products involved and not on the arbitrary
classification or general description of their properties or characteristics and that the mere fact that one
person has adopted and used a trademark on his goods does not prevent the adoption and use of the
same trademark by others on unrelated articles of a different kind. Petitioner, a foreign corporation
registered the trademark for its diverse articles of men's wear such as wallets, belts and men's briefs
which are all manufactured here in the Philippines but are so labelled as to give the misimpression that
the said goods are of foreign (stateside) manufacture and that respondent secured its trademark
registration exclusively for shoes (which neither petitioner nor the licensee ever manufactured or traded
in) and which are clearly labelled in block letters as "Made in Marikina, Rizal, Philippines," no error can
be attributed to the appellate court in upholding respondent's registration of the same trademark for his
unrelated and non-competing product of Marikina shoes.

G.R. No. L-44707, August 31, 1982

Facts:
Petitioner is a foreign corporation and all its products are manufactures by Quality House Inc. The latter pays
royalty to the petitioner. Hickok registered the trademark 'Hickok' earlier and used it in the sale of leather
wallets, key cases, money folds, belts, mens underwear, neckties, hankies, and men's socks. While Sam Bun
Liong used the same trademark in the sale of Marikina shoes. Both products have different channels of trade.
The Patent Office did not grant the registration, but the Court of Appeals reversed the PPO decision.

Issue: Is there infringement in this case?

NONE. Emphasis should be on the similarity of the products involves and not on the arbitrary classification or
the general description of their properties or characteristics. Also, the mere fact that one person has adopted
and used a trademark on his goods does not prevent the adoption and use of the same by others on unrelated
articles of different kind.
There is a different design and coloring of the trademark itself. The 'Hickok' trademark is in red with white
background in the middle of 2 branches of laurel (in light gold) while the one used by Sam Bun Liong is the
word 'Hickok ' in white with gold background between 2 branches of laurel in red with the word 'shoes' also in
red placed below the word 'Hickok'.