Consumer group cites court order on gin issue

A consumer organization lauded a recent decision by the Mandaluyong City Regional Trial Court to grant the motion by Ginebra San Miguel, Inc. (GSMI) for a temporary restraining order stopping Tanduay Distillers, Inc. from further manufacturing and selling its ‘Kapitan’ gin product.

The Mandaluyong RTC issued the TRO last week against Tanduay saying evidence was established that the close similarity between Kapitan gin and market leader Ginebra San Miguel "may give rise to confusion of goods."

A civil suit was filed by Ginebra San Miguel, Inc. (GMSI) against Tanduay for alleged unfair competition and infringement based on allegations that Tanduay’s use of "Ginebra" as a component of its Kapitan gin brand "misleads the public into believing that the product is manufactured and sold by GSMI."

Edwin Paraluman, chairman of the Sargen Integrated Federation, Inc., an umbrella organization of 36 region-based groups, said the TRO "should provide a temporary relief to a market reeling under the confusion effects of close-product-resemblance tactics being used in the gin industry."

Paraluman earlier expressed alarm over the reported results of an independent study which allegedly showed that gin buyers tend to associate one gin product with the manufacturer of another gin brand.

This is apparently due to the very close resemblance among the competing products which has likely resulted into confusion among buyers.

We are glad that the court did not lightly take the issue of market confusion, Paraluman said. The TRO should be a wake up call to the gin industry, he added.

He lauded the "swift action by the court which could only benefit a large grassroots market that deserve protection from exploitation by big business interests."

Paraluman called on the gin industry to junk the close-product-resemblance tactic and embark on healthier market competition that focuses on product differentiation and distinction."

This is a healthier form of market competition which will benefit the grassroots sector, he added.