Dow Jones & Company Inc. (Dow Jones) filed an action for unfair competition and trade dress infringement against The Business Star Corporation, the publisher of a local newspaper, The Business Star, for unauthorized copying and use of the distinctive trade dress of Dow Jones' The Wall Street Journal and The Asian Wall Street Journal. In making a visual comparison of the respective publications, Dow Jones pointed to at least 37 examples of similarities between The Wall Street Journal and The Business Star and at least 24 examples of similarities between The Asian Wall Street Journal and The Business Star.

In ruling recently that the trade dress of the The Wall Street Journal and The Asian Wall Street Journal was infringed by The Business Star Corporation in copying the well known distinctive format, print font, masthead style and layout of the two international newspapers, the Office of Legal Affairs of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) recognized in effect that these elements had acquired secondary meaning among newspaper subscribers and readers. The ruling cited and considered as persuasive a United States court decision, which had upheld a cause of action under Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act (a provision similar to Section 30 of the Philippine Trademark Law), in deciding in favor of Dow Jones.

As a result of this decision, we believe that the DTI has now recognized the existence of a proprietary right to trade dress in the Philippines.

June 1994 Index