Dear Mr. President:
I write this letter as a citizen of the Republic seeking your help as I fight the last battle to preserve my legacy.
I am Gonzalo Co, the founder of Gonzalo Laboratories, makers of Green Cross Rubbing Alcohol and Zonrox Bleach. I am 92 years old today but have spent the prime years of my life building a formidable Filipino company, employing thousands and doing my share to uplift the economy. Through it all, I have been a fastidious law abiding and tax paying citizen. I would like to think that my life’s work is testament to the Filipino spirit of entrepreneurship.
My life was turned upside down when my siblings — Anthony, Joseph, Peter Co and Mary Co-Cho connived to ease me out of my own business in both equity ownership and management representation. As you can imagine, no words can describe the pain that this has wrought upon me. The pain is made more acerbic given the fact that as the eldest of a lower income family, I have taken it upon myself to provide for the needs of my siblings and even sent each and every one of them to school.
I now live a simple, humble life. All 8 of my children have pursued other fields of work to eke out a living while watching their uncles, aunties and cousins from the sidelines living the high life.
As the curtains are drawn upon my life, all I want now is to preserve my legacy as the founder of Green Cross and Zonrox. Records will show that as early as September 23, 1963, I filed an application for the registry of the Zonrox trademark with the Philippine Patent Office (PPO), now known as Intellectual Property Office (IPO). On November 12, 1964, the patent came through certifying that indeed I was the owner of the Zonrox brand under Certificate of Registration No. 11525. The patent was awarded under the “first to use doctrine” since I had been using the Zonrox brand since January 15, 1960. (The ownership of the Intellectual Rights for the Green Cross brand is yet another story)
However, in March 2004, with me elbowed out of my own company, my siblings underhandedly registered the Zonrox brand with the IPO using Green Cross, Inc. as their corporate vehicle without my consent. Mysteriously, the IPO also granted them the rights to the brand under the “doctrine of first use” notwithstanding the fact that it has been already awarded to me way back in 1964.
To protect my interest, I lodged a case with the IPO demanding the cancellation of the Certificate of Registration No. 4-1997-124 075 of the Trademark Zonrox issued March 11, 2004 that was awarded to my siblings. The Hearing Officer assigned to the case is Atty. Josephine C. Alon under IPC No. 14-2012-00160.
Unfortunately, during the requisite preliminary conference in January 2013, Atty. Alon ordered the exclusion of 11 of my 28 material evidences including various affidavits, a report from the NBI, Resolutions from the Department of Justice, Audit Reports of Gonzalo Laboratories, among others, citing a technicality. In short, the exclusion of these evidences by Atty. Alon is prejudiced and biased against me and portrays an obvious partiality for my powerful siblings. This practically ensures their victory. I have made numerous appeals to Atty. Alon and the IPO but no action has been taken thus far.
Mr. President, my days are numbered. All I want is a fair trial to prove that I am the founder and owner of the Zonrox Brand and to validate my life’s work before I die. I am a believer of your mantra of good governance which is why I come to you with this plea. I respectfully ask that the IPO give due attention to my case and fairly weigh the merits of including my 11 pieces of evidences vital to my case. After all, technicalities are only tools designed to facilitate the delivery of justice, not to stand in the way of it.
Always, I trust in your wisdom and dedication to fairness and justice.
Respectfully,
Co It aka Gonzalo Co
