Asia Brewery, Inc. v.

CA and San Miguel Corporation

Facts: 
SMC filed a complaint against ABI for infringement of trademark and unfair competition on account of
the latter's BEER PALE PILSEN or BEER NA BEER product which has been competing with SMC's SAN
MIGUEL PALE PILSEN for a share of the local beer market. RTC dismissed the case, CA ruled in favour of
SMC.
Issue: 
Are the words PALE PILSEN as part of ABI’s trademark constitute infringement of SMC’s trademark? 
Ruling: 
No. The words PALE PILSEN are generic words descriptive of the color “pale“, of a type of beer “pilsen”,
which is a light bohemian beer with a strong hops flavor that originated in the City of Pilsen,
Czechoslovakia and became famous in the Middle Ages. No one may appropriate generic or descriptive
words. They belong to the public domain. 
Infringement is determined by the "test of dominancy" rather than by differences or variations in the
details of one trademark and of another. If the competing trademark (1) contains the main or essential
or dominant features of another, and (2) confusion and deception is likely to result, infringement takes
place. In the instant case, the dominant feature of SMC is the words “SAN MIGUEL PALE PILSEN” with
elaborate serifs at the beginning and end of the letters "S" and "M." While the dominant feature of ABI's
trademark is the name: “BEER PALE PILSEN” with the word "Beer" written in large amber letters.