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'.