The Junior Chamber of Dagupan City, Inc. vs. Junior Chamber of Dagupan City, Inc., et al.

[SEC-SICD * CASE NO. 1862. January 2, 1981.] THE JUNIOR CHAMBER OF DAGUPAN CITY, INC. , petitioner , vs . JUNIOR CHAMBER OF DAGUPAN CITY, INC. (DAGUPAN JAYCEES. INC.), ET AL. , respondents . D E C I S I O N This is a petition to compel principal respondent Junior Chamber of Dagupan City, Inc. (Dagupan Jaycees, Inc.) to change its corporate name inasmuch as its use and appropriation has allegedly caused public confusion and has made the public believe that petitioner and principal respondent are one and the same entity. prLL In order not to render any judgment on the case nugatory and ineffectual and to prevent the commission of acts that may cause irreparable damage to the petitioner, a temporary restraining order was forthwith issued enjoining the principal respondent and its officers and members from using the corporate name The Junior Chamber of Dagupan City, Inc. pending hearing on the prayer for the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction. Upon being summoned, the principal respondent interposed the defense, among others, that having added the phrase "Dagupan Jaycees, Inc." to its corporate name, the two organizations are identifiable from each other and, therefore, the possibility of confusing one from the other is nil. Culling from the records of the case, it appears that there used to be only one local Jaycee Chapter in Dagupan City whose membership includes most, if not all, of the present members of the two contending organizations. However, due to some misunderstanding that was brought about by the annual election of its officers on September 1, 1979, two factions were heretofore formed. One faction, which is the petitioner herein and headed by Alex Villaflor, filed its Articles of Incorporation for registration with the Commission on October 3, 1979 under the name "The Junior Chamber of Dagupan City, Inc." On January 14, 1980, the corresponding certificate of registration was issued to it. Subsequently, on February 7, 1980 to be precise, the other faction, which is the principal respondent herein and headed by Benjamin Lim, filed its Articles of Incorporation under the name "Junior Chamber of Dagupan City, Inc. (Dagupan Jaycees, Inc.)". Surprisingly, however, despite the apparent similarity of its corporate name with the one earlier registered, the same was allowed registration for which the corresponding certificate was issued on February 9, 1980. The issue posed by this petition is which of the two factions, with almost identical names and both registered with this Commission, has a prior right to use the name Junior Chamber of Dagupan City, Inc. or Dagupan Jaycees, Inc. for short. dctai Having in mind the historical fact that the members of the two factions used to belong to one happy family (Jaycee), so to speak, the Commission encouraged them to regroup themselves and reunite. The efforts, however, proved unavailing not because neither party was willing to compromise but because there were certain basic differences between the leadership of the two groups that stood in the way. Since the parties themselves have ruled that reunification was out of the question, the idea of allowing both organizations to peacefully co-exist and, thereafter, be recognized as local Jaycee chapters was considered. The comment of the mother organization, Philippine Jaycees, which had earlier been impleaded as respondent herein, was sought on this idea. Its counsel manifested that it was not against the idea of having more than one local chapter for after all, the policy of the organization is "to spread the movement to as many young people as possible and the more affiliates or chapters . . ., the better will be for the movement." In the matter of recognition of both chapters by the national organization, said counsel manifested that this may be made after compliance with certain requirements provided for in the policy manual. In view of this reconciliatory position of the national organization, the parties, urged by the Commission and true to the avowed spirit of Jayceeism, made proposals and counter-proposals for the amicable settlement of the case. The position advanced by the principal respondent was that it was willing to change its corporate name to Dagupan "Bangus" Jaycees consistent with its undertaking when it filed its Articles of Incorporation. At the same time, it suggested that petitioner insert another word between "Dagupan" and "Jaycees" to distinguish it from the proposed name of the principal respondent. On the other hand, petitioner suggested that principal respondent transpose its proposed name to read "Bangus Jaycees of Dagupan City, Inc." The parties then submitted the matter of the choice of name to the Commission to decide with the manifestation that the proposal made by one is not acceptable to the other. After considering the proposals made, the Commission is of the view that "Bangus Jaycees of Dagupan. City, Inc." would be more acceptable as the corporate name of principal respondent herein. While there may be a semblance of similarity, it is no longer confusingly similar as before. Henceforth, principal respondent would be known as "Bangus Jaycees of Dagupan City, Inc." while petitioner would be known simply as "Junior Chamber of Dagupan City, Inc." This finds parallel support in the case of the Paraaque Jaycees where the one earlier registered on July 17, 1967 carries the name "The Junior Chamber of Paraaque, Inc." while the one later registered on February 21, 1980 is officially known as Paraaque "Balikatan" Jaycees, Inc. LexLib WHEREFORE, respondent Junior Chamber of Dagupan City, Inc. (Dagupan Jaycees, Inc.) is hereby directed to change its corporate name to BANGUS JAYCEES OF DAGUPAN CITY, INC. by amending its Articles of Incorporation and filing the same with this Commission within fifteen (15) days from finality hereof. Before such amendment is effected, principal respondent, its officers, members and any person acting in its behalf are hereby enjoined from using the corporate name "The Junior Chamber of Dagupan City, Inc." conformably with our restraining order dated March 14, 1980. Let a copy of this Decision be furnished the Corporate and Legal Department of this Commission for its reference. (SGD.) EUGENIO E. REYES Hearing Officer