Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon, collectively known as TVJ, along with their legal counsel Enrique dela Cruz Jr., have expressed that they remain committed to their legal fight concerning “Eat Bulaga,” despite the renewal of Television and Production Exponents (TAPE) Inc.’s trademark registration for the show by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) for another 10 years.
Dela Cruz stated that the renewal of the trademark registration doesn’t significantly affect their ongoing petition for cancellation. He clarified that the renewal process is a routine administrative procedure as long as the applicant submits the required documents and pays the fee.
“The renewal is without prejudice to the petition for cancellation which is pending sa Bureau of Legal Affairs ng IPO. Separate office sya,” Dela Cruz explained.
“Kailangan lang mag bayad online at mag file ng DAU – Declaration of Actual Use, mare-renew na agad ang registration,” he added.
In a recent copyright case hearing before the Marikina Regional Trial Court, Tito Sotto was summoned to testify but was not able to take the witness stand. A counsel from TAPE opposed his testimony, citing the absence of a judicial affidavit and his non-exclusion during Joey de Leon’s testimony.
Presiding Judge Romeo Dizon Tagra sided with the defendants’ argument and directed Tito Sotto to submit a judicial affidavit. The court also pointed out that Vicente Sotto, one of the plaintiffs, already submitted a joint affidavit which could have been used as his testimony if not for the court’s directive to submit a separate judicial affidavit.
Tito Sotto clarified on his Twitter account that he had already submitted an affidavit weeks ago but was prevented from testifying due to disagreements over the format.
“I was prevented from testifying by the TAPE / GMA lawyers wanting a separate judicial affidavit when in fact we had a submitted affidavit weeks ago. ‘Yun ang totoo,” Tito Sotto explained.
