Intellectual property

Cruz Marcelo & Tenefrancia

Client Satisfaction

The ‘very responsive and efficient’ team at Cruz Marcelo & Tenefrancia is highly regarded for its provision of 'excellent quality' work and its 'exceptional client engagement'. Susan D. Villanueva is at the helm of the practice, which represents thousands of IP interests worldwide. Villanueva is a skilled litigator in IP matters and in enforcement cases. Key practitioner Patricia Bunye has a wealth of experience in IP commercialisation matters, as well as on regulatory cases involving food and drug administration. Divina Gracia Pedron regularly advises on brand protection, trademarks and copyright enforcement, and is experienced in civil, administrative and criminal prosecutions in that regard. Another notable member of the department is Rowanie Nakan who heads the patent group at the firm.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

‘Patricia Bunye is very hands-on and personally sees to it that the matters being handled by their firm for our organisation are managed well. She and her team are easy to work with and quick to respond. We have received sound and practical legal advice from their team.'
‘Rowanie Nakan has always been collaborative and the team provide recommendations on how to proceed and let us know the consequences of choosing various options.’
‘Not many local law firms that have an IP department know the nuances of Fine Art. This team knows the nuances and are genuinely interested and able to collaborate with us in creating solutions and strategies for our issues.'
‘Susan Villanueva and Divine Pedron both are really professional and yet make clients feel that their concerns are important. They are really knowledgeable in IP and are both into art and thus understand the cultural nuances and implications of courses of action. Working with them is enlightening and reassuring.’
‘Very qualified in IP knowledge and processes - very organised and process driven - communication is excellent - always on top of timeline for submission of documents - great at negotiation - gets the job done when needed in a timely manner.’
‘Patricia Bunye and Carlo Valerio are very knowledgeable in IP - very patient, structured in discussions - capable of explaining IP and process - present and available when needed.'
‘The team takes advantage of its pool of associates. Rowanie Nakan is a reliable and consistent counsel for our company's IP-related matters.’
‘The whole CMT team has always been very hands-on in terms of providing very sound legal advice. They have oriented us very well and have given us valued insights that were not known to us or available to us prior to our engagement.'

Key clients

JT International SA
In-N-Out, Burgers, Inc.
PT. Inertia Utama (Dexa Group)
Department of Science and Technology - Technology Application and Promotion Institute
San Miguel Food and Beverage, Inc.
Unilab, Inc.
Ayala Group Legal
Max's Group, Inc.
Vice Cosmetics Group Inc.
University of the Philippines (UP) through its constituent units (i.e., UP – Manila and UP Diliman)
Oriente Express Techsystem Corporation (“Cashalo”)
Filinvest Development Corporation/Filinvest Hospitality Corporation/Chroma Hospitality Inc. (collectively the “Filinvest Group”)
Makati Development Corporation
Marine Resources Development Corporation
Metromart Technologies, Inc.
Zalora SEA
Technological Institute of the Philippines
Green Cross, Inc.
Oceanic Empire Limited
The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company; The Manufacturers Life Insurance Co. (Phils.), Inc.
Fundacion Sanso
DBDOYC, Inc. (doing business as Angkas Philippines)
Fiberworld, Inc.

Work highlights

Represented Oceanic Empire Limited (Oceanic) in obtaining favourable decisions involving oppositions filed by Starwood Hotels and Resorts, LLC to Oceanic’s applications for the “WGLOBALCENTER” and “WHIGHSTREET” marks.
Represented In-N-Out Burgers in successfully opposing a trademark application filed by an international chain of restaurants/café which appropriated its trade name and mark.
Handled the patent portfolio of the Philippines’ national state university – the University of the Philippines (UP), particularly UP Diliman and UP Manila.

Lawyers

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