Speedy gin case trial good for consumers, says GSMI

Industry leader Ginebra San Miguel, Inc. (GSMI) yesterday called on the local gin industry and the business community as a whole to support the speedy resolution of the gin brand case now pending before the Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court.

GSMI said the early completion of the trial of the P100-million suit for infringement and unfair competition could "help raise the level of awareness and understanding of the laws and rationale for brand protection in a free market environment."

GSMI legal counsel Gilbert Reyes of the Poblador, Bautista and Reyes Law Offices said a definitive court ruling on the issue "could further boost the protection of consumers against marketing ploys that border on brand and product confusion."

Reyes said GSMI hopes the local business community "would close its ranks behind the principle of fair competition especially in the grassroots markets where consumers spend hard-earned wages."

He warned that "free market does not mean free-for-all market." While intense product and brand competition is encouraged, the rights and welfare of investors and consumers still need to be protected, he pointed out.

This is true even for the airline and cigarette industries, he explained.

Fair competition in a free market relies on the respective strengths and competitive advantages of products and corporate brands, he pointed out. He called on the industry to "focus the competition on sharp product and brand contrasts that help the grassroots market with easy differentiation."

Reyes said GSMI is calling on "all parties concerned in the case at hand to extend their full cooperation so that the speedy progress of the legal process would not be unnecessarily impeded."

He expressed hope that the case "could proceed to the trial proper soonest so that the evidence and witnesses could be presented and scrutinized both by the judicial authority and the concerned publics."

Reyes said the case is due to move to trial proper as soon as GSMI’s motion for a writ of preliminary injunction is resolved.

GSMI will give its full support to and respect the outcome, of the legal process.