ASIA BREWERY INC. VS.

CA AND SMC

In September 1988, San Miguel Corporation (SMC) sued Asia Brewery Inc. for allegedly
infringing upon their trademark on their beer product popularly known as San Miguel Pale
Pilsen; that Asia Brewerys Beer na Beer product, by infringing upon SMCs trademark
has committed unfair competition as Beer na Beer creates confusion between the two
products. The RTC ruled in favor of Asia Brewery but the Court of Appeals reversed the
RTC.
ISSUE: Whether or not Asia Brewery infringed upon the trademark of SMC.
HELD: No. Both products are manufactured using amber colored steinie bottles of 320 ml.
Both were labeled in a rectangular fashion using white color paint. But other than these
similarities, there are salient differences between the two. As found by the Supreme Court,
among others they are the following:
1. The dominant feature of SMCs trademark are the words San Miguel Pale Pilsen while
that of Asia Brewerys trademark is the word Beer. Nowhere in SMCs product can be
seen the word Beer nor in Asia Brewerys product can be seen the words San Miguel
Pale Pilsen. Surely, someone buying Beer na Beer cannot mistake it as San Miguel Pale
Pilsen beer.
2. The bottle designs are different. SMCs bottles have slender tapered neck while that of
Beer na Beer are fat. Though both beer products use steinie bottles, SMC cannot claim that
Asia Brewery copied the idea from SMC. SMC did not invent but merely borrowed the steinie
bottle from abroad and SMC does not have any patent or trademark to protect the steinie
bottle shape and design.
3. In SMC bottles, the words pale pilsen are written diagonally while in Beer na Beer, the
words pale pilsen are written horizontally. Further, the words pale pilsen cannot be said to
be copied from SMC for pale pilsen are generic words which originated from Pilsen,
Czechoslovakia. Pilsen is a geographically descriptive word and is non-registrable.
4. SMC bottles have no slogans written on them while Asia Brewerys bottles have a
copyrighted slogan written on them that is Beer na Beer.
5. In SMC bottles, it is expressly labeled as manufactured by SMC. In Asia Brewery beer
products, it is likewise expressly labeled as manufactured by Asia Brewery. Surely, there is
no intention on the part of Asia Brewery to confuse the public and make it appear that Beer
na Beer is a product of SMC, a long-established and more popular brand.