The Marikina City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 273 has issued a ruling prohibiting TAPE Inc. and GMA Network from utilizing the titles ‘Eat Bulaga’ and ‘EB’ in their television programs.
This includes the iconic jingle associated with the longest-running noontime show in the Philippines.
The court’s decision follows a legal battle initiated by Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon, who raised claims of copyright infringement and unfair competition against TAPE Inc. and GMA Network.
In a decision dated December 22, 2023, received by the legal representatives of TVJ from DivinaLaw on January 5, 2024, the court sided with the complaint filed by Tito, Vic, and Joey against TAPE.
As a result, the iconic trio is now granted the ability to use the trademarks ‘Eat Bulaga’ and ‘EB,’ along with their accompanying jingle, in their future shows.
Marikina RTC Branch 273 clarified that their ruling will be immediately enforceable, even if TAPE or GMA chooses to file an appeal.
The court’s statement explained, “In view of defendant TAPE’s failure to make a categorical and specific denial of the claim of Joey that he coined, formulated, and worded the title Eat Bulaga including the specific explanation how such a portmanteau was created, given the millions of words in the dictionary, the court, therefore, rules that plaintiffs have successfully proved and established, by preponderance of evidence, that Joey and his co-plaintiffs Tito and Vic should be credited with the formulation and creation of the mark Eat Bulaga.”
“Under the 2020 Revised Rules of Procedure for Intellectual Property Rights Cases, any order issued by the court is immediately executory. This means that the RTC’s ruling will already be enforced even if TAPE or GMA files an appeal,” the statement emphasized.
