Soon, there may be two noontime shows with the same title airing simultaneously on two different networks.
TITO, Vic and Joey’s legal counsel Enrique dela Cruz, a senior partner at the Divina Law firm, pointed that TVJ can use the name ‘Eat Bulaga!’ “any time” — for instance retitling ‘E.A.T.’ to ‘Eat Bulaga!’ | PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF TVJ
When the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines ruled in favor of Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto and Joey de Leon's petition to cancel the trademark registration made by Television and Production Exponents Inc. for the names "Eat Bulaga" and "EB," the entertainment trio known as TVJ called on their former producers to stop using the title and initials of the noontime show they hosted for 44 years.
"Ang tangging pinaghahawakan nila [TAPE Inc.] ay ang trademark registration. Ngayong kanselado na, bakit pa nila gagamitin ang title?" (The only thing TAPE Inc. had was the trademark registration. Now that it's been cancelled by the IPOPHL, why do they have to use the title 'Eat Bulaga'?), asked TVJ's legal counsel Enrique dela Cruz at the media conference on 6 December, or a day after IPO's ruling was made public.
TVJ's mediacon was held at TV5's studio, where their current show, E.A.T., is aired from Monday to Friday. They started E.A.T. last July 2023, a little over a month after breaking away from TAPE Inc., which then carried on with Eat Bulaga! on GMA-7.
Dela Cruz, a senior partner at the Divina Law firm, also pointed out that TVJ can use the name Eat Bulaga! "any time" — for instance retitling E.A.T. to Eat Bulaga!
The trio then announced that they have plans of doing so. Vic said, "Siguro kapag tumigil na 'yung gumagamit na iba, nagpakita ng respeto. 'Yun na siguro ang tamang panahon" (If other people will stop using the name to show respect, then maybe that's the right time.)
A day after the mediacon, TAPE Inc.'s legal counsel Maggie Garduque said in a statement sent to GMA News that they will follow the procedure: "As confirmed by the statement released by IPO today, TAPE has a period of 15 days to appeal the decision of the adjudication officer to the Director of the BLA-IPO.
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Then, appealed decisions may still be appealed to the Director General of IPO within 30 days."
In the meantime, the GMA show will continue to use the name, she said.
"As regards the plea of TVJ not to use Eat Bulaga, TAPE will continue to use the name Eat Bulaga for its noontime show pending the appeals. The appeal will be considered moot and academic if it heeds to the plea of TVJ. In the same vein, TAPE likewise hopes that TVJ will not use Eat Bulaga pending the appeals inaccordance with the law and rules and wait for the finality of the decision."
RTC Marikina case
What happens next?
TVJ's lawyer Dela Cruz said at the mediacon that they expect TAPE Inc. to appeal IPO's decision all the way to the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. For now, they are awaiting the decision of the Regional Trial Court of Marikina City in the case they filed against TAPE Inc., this time for copyright infringement and unfair competition.
"Dito sa naging desisyon ng IPO, ang tanong ay kung sino ang may karapatan sa titulong Eat Bulaga. Doon naman sa RTC Marikina, ang tanong naman ay kung puwede nila [TAPE Inc.] gamitin ang show na Eat Bulaga at lahat ng segments nito, kasama na ang jingle" (Here in the IPO's decision, the question was about the ownership of the title Eat Bulaga. At RTC Marikina, the question is if TAPE Inc. can use the show Eat Bulaga and all its segments, including the jingle.)
"At kung ang paggamit nila noon ay paglabag sa karapatan ng mga orihinal na lumikha at ito ba ay ginagawa para sumakay sa popularidad ng TVJ" (And if using the Eat Bulaga show and its segments is an infringement on the rights of the original creator, and if they're doing this to ride on the popularity of TVJ.), he added.
On the issue of royalties with TVJ as the copyright owners of Eat Bulaga, Dela Cruz said his clients are not interested in collecting payment for the use of their creation.
"Ang sabi ng TVJ, it's not about the money. Huwag na lang gamitin. 'Yun ang objective ng kaso na filed sa Marikina: injunction. Ipahinto ang hindi otorisadong paggamit" (TVJ said it's not about the money. They just want TAPE Inc. to stop using Eat Bulaga. That's the objective of the case filed in Marikina: injunction. To stop the unauthorized use [of the name]).
