PSE Circular for Brokers No. 2561-99

October 8, 1999 PSE CIRCULAR FOR BROKERS NO. 2561-99 October 7, 1999 Philippine Stock Exchange 4/F Philippine Stock Exchange Center PSE Center, Exchange Road Ortigas Center, Pasig City Attention: Disclosure Department Listing and Department Group Gentlemen: Enclosed is a copy of the press release issued today in connection with the unlawful and unauthorized use of the acronym PLDT in the Internet Website "PLDT.com" by the Philippine League for Democratic Telecommunications. cdlex Thank you. Very truly yours, PHILIPPINE LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE COMPANY (SGD.) MA. LOURDES C. RAUSA-CHAN Corporate Secretary PLDT told the Quezon City Regional Trial Court recently that the . unlawful and unauthorized use of the acronym PLDT in the Internet website "PLDT.com" by the Philippine League for Democratic Telecommunications is causing grave and irreparable injury to PLDT's business reputation. In an affidavit filed with the court, Horace A. Lavides, head of the PLDT's media services division, said that people who are looking for information about PLDT in the Internet are deliberately misled because of defendant's unlawful use of the website domain name "PILDT.com", which contains articles and features that are derogatory to PLDT. The affidavit was submitted to the court after PLDT earlier sued the Philippine League for Democratic Telecommunications and one of its incorporators and trustees, Gerardo Kaimo, for the unlawful use of PLDT's trade name and unfair competition. LibLex In Civil Case No. Q99-38800, PLDT petitioned the Court for a writ of preliminary injunction as well as Damages versus the defendants. Lavides told the court that PLDT was founded in 1928 under the corporate name "Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, Inc.", from which it derived the acronym and tradename "PLDT". "Since its incorporation as a company, PLDT has been using its tradename in its dealings with its subscribers. PLDT's monthly statements of accounts to its subscribers, using approximately 1.6 million lines, have always carried the 'PLDT' tradename," Lavides pointed out. He noted that the PLDT telephone directory, which is distributed to all subscribers, also carries the "PLDT" tradename. Likewise, PLDT phone cards, which are publicly available and sold even to non-subscribers, also carry the "PLDT" tradename. He said PLDT continues to use the acronym and tradename "PLDT" in all its business transactions with subscribers, suppliers, investors and with other public and private companies. "PLDT has also developed an international reputation and goodwill for the "PLDT" tradename as a result of its international telecommunications services, and its contracts and transactions, with international communications companies, among them AT&T, MCI and Sprint. . . . Even the PLDT shares of stocks are listed in association with the "PLDT" tradename or variants thereof," Lavides said. llcd Lavides told the court that in order to promote consumer awareness of the "PLDT" tradename and PLDT's telecommunications services, PLDT has extensively advertised and promoted its services and tradename invarious forms of media, including print and broadcast media. Likewise, PLDT has verified that an applications for the registration of the tradename and service mark "PLDT" are in the name of PLDT, and no other application for "PLDT" has been found in the name of any other entity. By maintaining a website in the Internet with a domain name or address of "PLDT.com", Lavides said in his affidavit "it is clear that the unauthorized registrants intentionally appropriated the 'PLDT tradename and service mark in order to attract net surfers and is investors interested in PLDT to their own website." "Thus, far from accessing PLDT's website as they had intended, the Internet users will instead be misled and lured into a website which actually discredits PLDT. Internet users so misled and lured may not take the trouble subsequently to find and access PLDT's real website to obtain its side, thereby permanently and irreparably injuring PLDT, its goodwill and its reputation, insofar as those users are concerned," Lavides said. prcd He added in his affidavit that potential local and international investors in PLDT are most likely to be, if not actually, confused and misled to the unauthorized website and by the derogatory materials therein, and may on that mistaken basis decided against investing in PLDT to the latter's grave prejudice.