This time, he’s fighting the richest man

By Herbert Vego

ONLY last May, this corner covered the win of Ilonggo entrepreneur Victor Martin J. Soriano in a legal battle against a royal couple — Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle of the United Kingdom (UK).

“Case dismissed” was how the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPO) in Taguig City junked the petition of Prince Harry’s Archewell Foundation to disapprove the application of Soriano to use “Archewell Harvatera” as a brand name of  his tawas-based deodorant.

Archewell Harvatera, as a brand of a local deodorant, does not compete with the Prince’s charitable Archewell Foundation. Hence, they could not be confused with each other.

Guess who Martin’s “enemy” is this time?

This time, he is up against today’s richest man in the world! Check the internet for Forbes’ list, folks; he is the French chairman of the world-famous Louis Vuitton Malletier, maker of fashion goods known as LV for short.

The French fashion magnate, Bernard Arnault, has a current net worth of US $193 billion, besting previous American frontrunners Jeff Bezos ($185.8 billion), Elon Musk ($152.3) Bill Gates ($126.5), Mark Zuckerberg ($119.7) and Warren Buffet ($108.8).

This is not to say that our man Martin Soriano – manufacturer, importer and dealer of cosmetic products – is inching close behind. No, he does not even consider himself rich.

His fight against Arnault stems from his use of “LV” as a brand name of his cologne and tawas deodorant. As in the case filed against him by Prince Harry, the venue of this battle is the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) in Taguig City. His opposer is the French billionaire, represented by Makati-based lawyers, accusing him of counterfeiting Louis Vuitton products.

In a phone call to this writer, Soriano said that the logo design of letters LV as a registered brand of his deodorant is far different from that of Arnault’s fashion products; it stands for “Lopez Vito,” the surname of his cousins with connections in Portugal, where his tawas deodorant is also sold.

“Don’t I have the right to use the same initials? I have no doubt I will beat Arnault,” Soriano said.

He expressed the same confidence in his letter to Arnault, where he cited a Supreme Court case (GR 209843) pitting petitioner Taiwan Kolin Corporation of Taiwan against local respondent Kolin Electronics Co. Initially filed at the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) in 2013, the case reached the Supreme Court (SC), which ruled in favor of Kolin Electronics on March 25, 2015.

The SC decision reversed the decision of the IPO which had denied Kolin Electronics’ trademark application for the use of “Kolin” on its products, namely television, refrigerators, air conditioners, electric fans and water dispensers.

The Taiwanese petitioner’s products, on the other hand, are automatic voltage regulator, converter, recharger, stereo booster, AC-DC regulated power supply, step-down transformer, and PA amplified AC-DC.5

Based on the SC decision on the above case, it’s a cinch that the IPO would favor Soriano; that it would not allow the case to drag all the way to the SC.

LV is an IPO-registered brand, numbered IPO-PHIL 4-2020-4452.

Who would not envy Martin Soriano? It is not every day that a Filipino gets to fight a royal couple and the richest man in the world.

I guess though that he would prefer converting them into friends — up, close and personal.

But, of course, why would they not be honored to meet Martin? There was a time when this still-young-looking guy astounded the swimming world. O August 7, 1994, he swam the Iloilo-Guimaras Strait continuously – a distance of 4.2 nautical miles (7.7 kilometers) for the record. To this day after almost 27 years, no one else has even equaled that feat.

Once a champion, always a champion!

—0—

THE FILIPINA GOLFER BRINGS HOME THE BACON

WE are happy for Yuka Saso, a 19-year-old Filipino-Japanese who recently won the championship of the United States’ Women’s Open golf champion at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, California.

She bagged a purse of $5.5 million from the world’s richest tournament for women so far.

Born to a Filipino mother and a Japanese father, she is expected to play for the Philippines at the forthcoming Tokyo Olympics.  Why for the Philippines instead of Japan?

Call it “utang na loob.” She owes her career to port and power tycoon Enrique Razon Jr. the chairman of MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) and the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI).

Razon has been known as an avid golfer and major supporter of the sport in the country. He has been spending for Saso’s continuous golf training since the age of 12, knowing that she has the form and determination to be the best woman golfer.

Saso had already won two gold medals for the country at the 2018 Asian Games — one in the individual event and another in the team event.

She turned pro in 2019, winning two titles in Japan.