Text of the provision
Art. 520. A trade-mark or trade-name duly registered in the proper government bureau or office is owned by and pertains to the person, corporation, or firm registering the same, subject to the provisions of special laws.
(n)
Civil Code of the Philippines, Republic Act No. 386, approved June 18, 1949, effective August 30, 1950. Reproduced in full; verified verbatim against the LawPhil and ChanRobles official-text renderings.
What this article means
A trade-mark or trade-name that is duly registered in the proper government bureau or office is owned by the person, corporation or firm that registered it, subject to special laws.
Registration is the operative fact this article turns on: ownership of a trade-mark or trade-name vests in whoever registers it with the proper government bureau, rather than automatically in whoever first coined or used it in commerce. A trade-mark identifies the goods of a particular maker, while a trade-name identifies the business itself, but both receive the same treatment here — registration fixes ownership in the registrant, subject always to whatever conditions or limitations special laws on the subject impose.
Questions about this provision
Related provisions
- Article 519 — Mining Governed By Special Laws.
- Article 521 — Goodwill As Property.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on this article will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.