THE Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHIL) has junked Jollibee Foods Corp.’s trademark case against listed property firm Jolliville Holdings, Corp., saying the names of both companies are not “confusingly similar.”

In a statement issued on Tuesday, IPOPHIL Director General Josephine Santiago said they have reversed the 2014 decision of the agency’s Bureau of Legal Affairs (BLA), effectively granting Jolliville’s appeal for the registration of its corporate name.

“The decision of the BLA director [in September 2014] is incorrect and the appeal is meritorious. The appellant’s [Jolliville] mark is not confusingly similar to appellee’s [Jollibee] marks… There is no ground to prohibit the registration of Jolliville in the name of the appellant,” IPOPHIL said in its 11-page decision dated June 8.

The homegrown fastfood giant filed a notice of opposition against Jolliville in January 2013, after the latter filed for the registration of its corporate name and logo featuring the word “Jolliville.”

IPOPHIL’s decision in favor Jollibee in September 2014 then prompted Jolliville to file an appeal.

The property firm explained that its name was derived from the name of the company’s founder, Jolly L. Ting, appended to the suffix “ville” to suggest the nature of its real estate affairs and leasing business. It also presented certificates of registration to the Securities and Exchange Commission, showing that Mr. Ting had been using the “Jolli” prefix in her businesses since the mid-80s.

IPOPHIL further noted that Jollibee failed to present evidence showing its registered trademarks had been damaged or are likely to be damaged by the registration of Jolliville.

“While appellee [Jollibee] was making it big in the food service business, so was Mr. Jolly L. Ting in the night entertainment business,” the decision read.

Mr. Ting is the owner of night entertainment businesses spread out across Metro Manila, namely Pegasus, Discovery, Mega, Heartbeat, and Lexus.

In 1986, Mr. Ting forayed into the real estate business with Jolliville Realty and Development Co. Inc. The corporate regulator then approved the corporate name change in April 1999 to its present name.

Aside from its property business, Jolliville and its subsidiaries are also engaged in local waterworks system, business process outsourcing and power generation.

Shares in Jollibee gained P1.80 or 0.87% to P208 each, while Jolliville stocks accelerated by 2.67% or 16 centavos to close at P6.16 each at the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday. — Arra B. Francia

By Arra B. Francia

PROPERTY developers would have to be more strategic in scouting for landbanking opportunities as more companies venture into township developments outside Metro Manila, according to Colliers International.

In a report released last week, the property consultancy firm noted how the government’s massive infrastructure program prompted developers to build townships outside Metro Manila to take advantage of their potential to become business hubs in the future.

“Colliers believes that the Duterte administration’s decentralization thrust anchored on the implementation of major public infrastructure projects should entice developers to aggressively pursue integrated communities outside of Metro Manila,” it said in a statement.

For instance, Ayala Land, Inc.’s strategic landbanking has allowed it to launch Ayala Vertis North in Quezon City, the 250-hectare Evo City project in Cavite, and the 25-hectare Azuela Cove in Davao City.

Colliers cited Fairview, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, Novaliches, and the Commonwealth as areas for potential townships near Quezon City. The provinces of La Union, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Batangas, Naga, Iloilo, Bacolod, Cebu, Davao, and Cagayan de Oro are also seen as strategic locations.

Companies can, however, still look for opportunities inside the metro by either purchasing reclaimed land or buying back properties from previous owners.

Ongoing reclamation projects in the Manila Bay Area include the 148-hectare Manila Solar City — from the Cultural Center of the Philippines to the US embassy, and the 635-hectare Las Piñas- Parañaque Coastal Bay Reclamation Project — located near the Mall of Asia Complex and across the Libertad channel.

Colliers said developers can also consider buying back idle properties from private owners or the government, following the example of Megaworld Corp.’s development of Eastwood City which used to be an idle textile mill, and Rockwell Land Corp.’s transformation of a mothballed power facility into what is now known as Rockwell Center.

“Given the lack of developable land in Metro Manila, we think that some developers should revisit the option of buying back properties that were previously donated to government agencies,” the property consultant said.

Aside from focusing on location, Colliers said developers must also be able to distinguish their projects from others by incorporating features other than the usual office, residential, retail, and hotel components. This can be done by putting up institutions for education and health care.

“Other developers have been more aggressive in “differentiating” their communities by integrating entertainment and recreational facilities for outdoor sports such as football and wakeboarding,” Colliers said.

For instance, Circuit Makati has a skate park, while the Nuvali estate in Cavite has a wakeboarding facility, and Alviera in Pampanga features Sandbox, the country’s first roller coaster zipline.

“The developers’ differentiation strategies are anchored on placemaking or the ‘multifaceted approach to the planning, design and management of public spaces.’ Under this method, developers assess each community’s distinct assets and potential, and eventually build facilities that will maximize those features,” it added.

ABS-CBN Corp. and GMA Network, Inc. both claimed the lead in nationwide TV ratings in June, citing data from different research firms.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Lopez-led media and entertainment giant said it grabbed a 46% audience share in total day national TV viewership in June, 12 points higher than GMA’s 34%, using Kantar Media data.

On the other hand, GMA said it posted a 42.3% average total day people audience share in June, while ABS-CBN recorded 37.6%, based on data from Nielsen TV Audience Measurement.

Kantar Media’s data covered a nationwide panel of 2,610 urban and rural homes, while Nielsen TV’s data covered 900 more homes than the former.

ABS-CBN said its average audience share during the primetime block (6 p.m. to 12 midnight) reached 50% in June, compared to GMA’s 32%. Its audience share for the morning block (6 a.m. to 12 noon) also reached 43% versus GMA’s 31%.

For the noontime block (12 noon to 3 p.m.) and afternoon block (3 p.m. to 6 p.m.), ABS-CBN’s average audience share stood at 43% and 44%, respectively, versus GMA’s 39% and 38%.

Among its top-rating shows in June included FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano, which recorded an average national TV rating of 35.5%, while La Luna Sangre had a national TV rating of 34.1%.

Aside from ABS-CBN, among Kantar Media’s local current subscribers are Peoples Television Network, Inc., Viva Communications, Inc., Solar Entertainment Corporation.

Meanwhile, GMA said its total day people audience share reached 49.2% in urban Luzon, 18 points higher than its rival. Urban Luzon, it said, accounts for 77% of the country’s total urban TV household population.

Based on Nielsen data, GMA said Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho was the top show in Urban Luzon.

Nielsen’s clients also include 12 local TV networks including TV5, Aksyon TV, CNN Philippines, Net 25, Solar Entertainment Corporation, and Viva Communications, Inc.

AMID its robust performance in the first half, International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) on Tuesday said its flagship operations in Manila is well-prepared for the upcoming peak season.

In a statement, the Razon-led port operator said yard utilization at the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) stood at 61% in May, still below the 70% ideal percentage.

Also in May, average crane productivity at MICT was around 32 moves an hour. ICTSI said this shows “the terminal’s strong performance despite the uptick in container volume as global trade continues to rebound.”

“Yard utilization at the terminal remains optimal. The mechanisms we developed together with the Philippine government and other stakeholders in 2014 continue to work, resulting in the easing of traffic in Metro Manila despite inadequate trade infrastructure,” Christian R. Gonzalez, ICTSI senior vice-president and head of Asia-Pacific region and MICT, was quoted as saying in a statement.

While global container traffic is slowly recovering, Mr. Gonzalez expressed confidence MICT will be able to handle the expected growth.

“As a matter of fact, Southeast Asia and North America have posted the highest average growth at seven percent during the final quarter of last year. While we remain optimistic that this trend will continue, I am confident that we will be able to keep up with the pace and accommodate the projected increase,” he said.

Last December, MICT hit record volume and productivity with its first two million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) move, which triggered the multi-billion peso capacity improvement commitment with the PPA. ICTSI is required to commission five neo-Panamax quay cranes and 12 reach stackers, as well as build two new berths by 2020, which would pave the way for the MICT to service bigger ships.

“We are entering the era of larger ships. We need to adapt and stay competitive by enhancing our capabilities, which is something that we have already started,” said Mr. Gonzalez.

ICTSI expects volume to surge in the second half, as imports start arriving ahead of the Christmas season. Historical data from the Philippine Ports Authority show sustained MICT volume growth since 2015, with productivity and utilization staying healthy.

“Port congestion is a challenge every major and busy port in the world has to contend with. The congestion problem in the Port of Manila in 2014 provided us with the opportunity to further improve our operations at the MICT. We resolved the issue by putting in place new technologies that would not only upgrade the terminal, but would make MICT a sustainable business factoring in the quality of life of our hinterland communities and immediate environs. We’ve engaged all port stakeholders in resolving the issue,” the ICTSI official noted.

ICTSI adopted the Terminal Appointment Booking System (TABS) to address the port congestion in Manila in 2014. Under TABS, trucks arrive at the MICT according to a booked slot schedule, which helped reduce the number of trucks on the road. — Janina C. Lim

THE education arm of the Yuchengco Group of Companies said it remains on track to reach its targets for 2017, amid a 35% drop in consolidated earnings in the first quarter due to the decrease in college freshmen enrolment with the implementation of the K-12 program.

IPeople, Inc., which operates Mapua University, said in a statement that its Senior High School (SHS) program could mitigate the effects of the K-12 program on the company’s financial performance.

The listed firm posted earnings of P136 million in the first three months of 2017, lower than the P209 million it delivered in the same period in 2016 following a 15% year-on-year decline in consolidated revenues to P543 million.

“Based on Q1 results, we are on track to meet our 2017 targets. Moving forward, iPeople anticipates a significant boost in returns as it continues to expand its reach and innovate its educational system to remain competitive in the global area,” iPeople President Reynaldo B. Vea was quoted as saying in the statement.

The opening of the SHS program allowed Mapua University and Malayan Colleges Laguna (MCL) to collectively take in 1,985 SHS students in academic year (AY) 2016 to 2017.

For AY 2017 to 2018, the listed firm noted an average 22% increase in SHS Grade 11 enrolment in the two campuses, whereas enrollees in MCL alone increased by 33% to 1,338 students.

IPeople also said that the construction of its P2-billion campus in Davao City remains on schedule. The new school, set to be named Malayan Colleges Mindanao, can accept a minimum of 8,000 students and will start opening its doors to its first batch of freshmen and grade 11 students by June 2018.

Incorporated in 1989, iPeople’s portfolio involves both education and information technology. The latter’s main operating subsidiaries are Malayan Colleges, Inc. (MCI) and the Pan Pacific Computer Center (PPCC).

MCI also has two other wholly owned subsidiaries, the Malayan Colleges Laguna and the Malayan High School of Science. PPCC, on the other hand, provides the IT-related requirements of the Yuchengco Group of Companies, which include hardware, software and IT-related services.

Shares in iPeople slipped by two centavos or 0.16% to close at P12.66 each at the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday. — Arra B. Francia

UBER Technologies, Inc. suffered another setback in the European Union (EU) after an adviser to the bloc’s top court backed a French law that led to sanctions for top managers in the country.

EU nations “may prohibit and punish the illegal exercise of a transport activity such as UberPop without having to notify the” European Commission of the draft law, Maciej Szpunar, an advocate general at the EU Court of Justice, said in a non-binding opinion delivered on Tuesday.

Mr. Szpunar rejected Uber’s claims that the rules were invalid because France didn’t notify the EU in advance about the measures, saying in this case such a notification was “unnecessary.”

The legal wrangling adds to the turmoil at Uber, which last month led to the resignation of Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick. Szpunar already dealt a blow to the troubled company’s fight with authorities in May, saying in a separate case that Uber is more than just an app, and should also be categorized as a transport service, regulated in a similar way to regular taxis.

In Tuesday’s case, the EU court is being asked to give guidance on the legality of changes made to a 2014 French law, which Uber says is targeting apps such as UberPop. The controversial service, no longer offered in the country, let unlicensed drivers use their own car to pick up riders for low fees.

The French court asked whether the nation’s failure to flag the rule changes to the EU, a technical requirement for many laws, made it invalid.

Uber in a statement said it will wait for the final ruling “later this year.” — Bloomberg

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Tuesday, July 4, 2017.