MANILA -- Television and Production Exponents (TAPE) Inc. has filed an appeal to the Intellectual Property Office (IPOPHL) on Tuesday, December 12, after the government agency's Bureau of Legal Affairs (BLA) cancelled the company's registration for the trademarks “Eat Bulaga” and “EB.”

In a press conference on Wednesday, TAPE’s legal counsel Atty. Maggie Garduque stressed that TAPE Inc. still has the trademark registration of Eat Bulaga.

"Kasi ang mga lumalabas na news or mga statement ay na-award na po ang trademark registration kay Mr. Joey de Leon. Eh tingnan na lang po natin kung ano ang nakalagay sa website (ng IPO), pending pa rin po siya. Pending pa po siya kasi wala pang pinal na desisyon. It's only to that point na maging final ang desisyon ng isang kaso doon lang po mae-execute, in this particular case cancellation, doon lang po maka-kansela. So ang posiyon po ng TAPE Inc. is as of now we still have the registration of the trademark of Eat Bulaga. ...There's still no award being given to Joey de Leon as regards to registration or trademark registration of the Eat Bulaga trademark," Garduque said.

"Kaya ang posisyon ng TAPE Inc. ay maari pa rin po naming gamitin ang Eat Bulaga sa aming show. Kasi nasa amin pa rin po ang trademark registration nito until such time na may pinal na desisyon na hindi na namin ito pwedeng gamitin, saka lang po ito hindi pwedeng gamitin ng TAPE Inc.," she explained.

"Kung nabasa niyo rin po ang desisyon na inilabas ng adjudication officer ng BLA of IPO, wala rin pong nakalagay doon na dahil sa desisyon na ito ay pinagbabawalan na namin ang TAPE Inc. na gamitin ang Eat Bulaga. You can read the decision and it's nowhere to be find po na mayroong nakalagay na ganun. Dahil sa wala pong nakalagay na ganun ay susundin lang po namin kung ano ang nasa desisyon," the lawyer said.

• 'Eat Bulaga' sa desisyon ng IPOPHL: 'Mahaba pa ang laban'

"I know that there are some calls sa TAPE Inc. to respect the decision. We are respecting the decision po and we are respecting the process... Kaya po umaapela kami sa Bureau of Legal Affairs director. It's the same respect na kahit po para sa amin ay hindi man kami agreeable sa naging desisyon ay irerespeto po namin ang proseso, ang legal process at magpa-file po kami ng appeal," she said.

"And yesterday nga po we already filed our appeal. So ito po ang appeal na pinayl namin," said Garduque as she showed to members of media the copy of their appeal to IPO's BLA filed via e-mail on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

"Ito po 'yung sinasabi kong apela sa Director ng Bureau of Legal Affairs o 'yun pong head po ng bureau na nagrelease ng decision. So hihintayin po natin under the rules po papasugutin po sila doon sa appeal natin saka po magde-decide ang BLA. Sa amin lang po sa TAPE Inc. sana po ay irespeto natin ang proseso na until such time ay wala pang pinal desisyon ang lahat ng agencies na dadaanan ng kasong ito ay let's think and respect the registration of TAPE Inc. 'yun lang naman po ang hinihiling namin," Garduque said.

Last week, IPOPHL has cancelled the registration of TAPE, Inc., for the trademarks “Eat Bulaga” and “EB.”

In a statement, IPOPHL said the petitions for cancellation were granted by on December 4, and that the decisions were received by the parties on December 5.

Below is the full statement of IPOPHL on the cancellation of TAPE’s Eat Bulaga trademark registration:

"On recent queries regarding the cancellation of the Television and Production Exponents Inc. (TAPE) registration of the “EAT BULAGA” and “EB” trademarks No. 4-2011-005951 and No. 4-2011-005950, respectively, IPOPHL confirms that the petitions for cancellation were granted last
December 4, 2023, and the decisions were received by the parties on December 5, 2023.

"As provided for under the Bureau of Legal Affairs (BLA) procedures, the cases initially underwent compulsory mediation. As the parties failed to settle, the petitions were referred to adjudication at which stage hearings were held to inspect and compare the parties’ respective evidence, followed by submission of position papers. After which, the Adjudication Officer rendered the decisions.

"The decisions of the Adjudication Officer may be appealed to the BLA Director within 15 days from receipt of the decisions. In turn, the appellate decisions of the BLA Director may be appealed to the IPOPHL Director General within 30 days from receipt of the copy of the BLA Director’s decisions.

"The EAT BULAGA and EB registrations that are covered by TM Reg. No. 4-2011-005951 and No. 4-2011-005950 are for Nice Classes 16, 18, 21 and 25."

• Dispute brews over 'Eat Bulaga' trademarks: IPOPHL

De Leon, along with brothers Tito and Vic Sotto, announced their departure from the noontime show "Eat Bulaga" last May 31 amid a dispute with the owners of TAPE Inc. They have since transferred to TV5 as hosts of another noontime show "E.A.T."