FIRST ON RADAR: Lido Cocina Tsina says no name change despite SC ruling

Branches will continue operating normally — for now.

Despite a Supreme Court ruling ordering the cancellation of its trademarks, Lido Cocina Tsina assured customers that there would be no change to its name or restaurant operations—at least for the time being.

In a statement sent exclusively to radar Business on September 11, the Chinese restaurant chain said that its branches remain open, acknowledging the confusion the ruling may have caused among customers.

“There is currently no change to the Lido Cocina Tsina name or its restaurant operations,” the chain said.

The company said it is handling the legal process through the appropriate channels. “Lido believes that matters relating to the proceedings are best addressed through that process rather than debated publicly,” the statement read.

In a decision promulgated on August 12, the Court ordered the cancellation of trademarks registered under Panciteria Lido Chinese Cuisine Co., the company behind Lido Cocina Tsina.

The SC ruled that PLCCC had no right to prominently use the name “Lido” as a trademark since it belonged to Eng Son Co., a joint venture between Alipio and King Si Biak that used to manage Panciteria Lido in Binondo, Manila.

PLCCC applied to trademark “Lido Cocina Tsina” and its Chinese character counterpart with the Intellectual Property Office in 2012. The trademarks were successfully registered in 2013.

Following a dispute spanning decades between Alipio, King, and King’s sons Albert and Arthur, the Court found that PLCCC registered the subject marks “in bad faith.”

“[The IPO Bureau of Legal Affairs] found that PLCCC registered the subject marks in bad faith, having prior knowledge that the Lido mark belonged to Eng Son Co. The [IPO BLA] Director further held that, absent any showing that the partnership had been liquidated and its assets lawfully distributed, ownership of the Lido mark remained with Eng Son Co.,” part of the SC decision read.

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