PROPERTY LAW

CHAPTER IV
OF
INTELLECTUAL
LAW ON TRADEMA 203
ESSENTIALS
202

corporate name. The SEC also noted

the
oth that petitioner
ILLUSTRATIVE CASE 4-15 istered
ad r e g i s t e
as a
corporation ahead of the Lyceum
the Lvceum of
itsaqulo,
name to another
of time, and ordered
point name "not similar or eidentical
Inc. in latter[with]"
to hange
the
Learning "Lyceum'

nes of reviously registered entities.

Title: Lyceum of Baguio, Inc. assailed the Order of the SEC
V. Court of Appeals et The
the Philippines, Inc. al., before the Supreme Court in a case docketed as G.R. No.
Lyceum of March 5, 1993 L-4659 In a Minute Resolution dated 14 September 1977,
G.R. No. 101897,
Court denied the Petition for Review for lack of merit.
the
that case was made on 21 October
Facts Entry ofjudgment 1977.
Petitioner is an
educational institution duly registered with Armed with the solution of this Court in G.R. No. L-46595,
Commission ("SEC"). When
Exchange it petitioner then wrote all the educational institutions it
the Securities and could
first registered with
the SEC on 21 September 1950, it Ised nd using the word Lyceum as part of their corporate name,
name Lyceum of the Philippines, Inc. and hac
the corporate and advised them to discontinue such use of "Lyceum." When,
name ever since.
used that with the passage of time, it became clear that this recourse

On 24 February 1984, petitioner

instituted proceedings before hadfailed, petitioner instituted before the SEC SEC-Case No.
the SEC to compel the private respondents, which are also 2579 to enforce what petitioner claims as its proprietary right
educational institutions, to delete the Word "Lyceum" from to the word Lyceum. The SEC hearing oficer rendered a
their corporate names and permanently to enjoin them from decision sustaining petitioner's claim to an exclusive right
using "Lyceum" as part of their respective names. to use the word "Lyceum." The hearing officer relied upon
the SEC ruling in the Lyceum of Baguio, Inc. case (SEC-Case
Some of the private respondents actively participated in the
proceedings before the SEC. These are the following, the
No. 1241) and held that the word "Lyceum" was capable of
dates of their original SEC registration being set out below appropriation and that petitioner had acquired an enforceable
exclusive right to the use of that word.
opposite their respective names:
On appeal, however, by private respondents to the SEC En
Western Pangasinan Lyceum 2 7 October 1950
Banc, the decision of the hearing officer was reversed and set
Lyceum of Cabagan 31 October 1962 aside. The SEC En Banc did not consider the word "Lyceum"
Lyceum of Lallo, Inc.-26 March 1972 to have become so identified with petitioner as to render
Lyceum of Aparri 28 March 1972 use thereof by other institutions as productive of confusion
Lyceum of Tuao, Inc. - 28 March 1972
about theidentity of the schools concerned in the mind of
the general public. Unlike its hearing officer, the SEC En Banc
Lyceum of Camalaniugan 28 March 1972 held that the attaching of geographical names to the word
XXXX Lyceum" served sufficiently to distinguish the schools from
one another, especially in view of the fact that the campuses
The
background of the case at bar needs some recounting.
Petitioner had sometime before of petitioner and those of the private respondents were
commenced in the physically quite remote from each other.
a proceeding (SEC-Case No. 1241) against the LyceumSE
Baguio, Inc. to require it to change its o Petitioner then went on appeal to the Court of Appeals. In its
to adopt another name not "similar
corporate name dhu
Decision dated 28 June 1991, however, the Court of Appeals
that of petitioner. In an Order dated 20[to]
or identical
Witn Petitioner
April 1977, Assoclate anrmed the questioned Orders of the SEC En Banc.
Commissioner Julio Sulit held that the corporate na
of
nled a motion for reconsideration, without success.
petitioner and that of the
Substantially identical because ofLyceum of Baguio, Inc. we
the presence of a Issue:
WOra, l.e., domindn
the campusLyceum,"
the name of the Whe cannot De
being the only word whichgeographical location o "Lyceum" is a generic word that
others.
distinquished
one fron PPrOpriated by the petitioner to the exclusion of
 ESSENTIALS OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAL
204

Ruling: YES
1. "Lyceum is as generic in character as the
Etymologically, the word "Lyceum"i the Word
Word
"university."
in turn referred to atinLat
for the Greek lykeion which
word
on the river Ilissius in ancient Athens "comprising an locality
closure
dedicated to Apollo and adorned with fountains and buildings
Pericles and Lycurgus
erected by Pisistratus,
exercise and by the
frequented
philosopher Aristo
by the youth for
and his followers for teaching." In time, the word "Lyce
became associated with schools and other institu
institutions
providing public lectures and concerts and public discussion
Thus today, the word "Lyceum" generally refers to a school
an institution of learning. While the Latin word "lyceum"hor
been incorporated into the English language, the word is alc
found in Spanish (liceo) and in French (lycee). As the cCour
of Appeals noted in its Decision, Roman Catholic schoole
frequently use the term; e.g., "Liceo de Manila" "Liceo de
Baleno" (in Baleno, Masbate), "Liceo de Masbate" Liceo
de Albay." "Lyceum" is in fact as generic in character as the
word "university." In the name of the petitioner, "Lyceum"
appears to be a substitute for university"; in other places
however "Lyceum," or "Liceo or "Lycee" frequently denotes
a secondary school or a college. It may be (though this is a
question of fact which we need not resolve) that the use of
the word "Lyceum" may not yet be as widespread as the use
of "university," but it is clear that a not inconsiderable number
ofeducational institutions have adopted "Lyceum" or "Liceo"
as part of their corporate names. Since "Lyceum" or "Liceo"
denotes a school or institution of learning, it is not unnatural
tousethis word to designate an entity which is organized and
operating as an educational institution.