Badzaar! A critical analysis of the possible liabilities of lessors in case their lessees commit acts of trademark infringement or counterfeit of goods

• Main Authors: Reyes, Christopher Alex Andres V., Taliño, Thaddeus Darius V.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2018
• Subjects: Product counterfeiting—Law and legislation—Philippines; Liability (Law)—Philippines; Shopping malls—Philippines; Shopping centers— Philippines.; Intellectual Property Law
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/7105
• Institution: De La Salle University

The authors of this study will be answering the main question on “What liabilities could malls and other similar commercial establishments incur for leasing out their property to businesses that are engage in the selling of counterfeited goods?” Currently, the Philippines has no law imposing liability on commercial establishments whose premises are haven to tenants peddling counterfeit goods. Specifically, there is no law stating possible grounds by which these establishments would be linked to the illegal acts of their tenants. The only elements that can be used to create liability is the fact of knowledge of the act and that these establishments have the power of control over the economic operations of the tenants. However, this is difficult to prove given that landlords can claim the defense of dutiful compliance with the relevant laws. What happens in the status quo is that illegal flea markets are able to operate with allowance in these lawful premises, only being disrupted by a raid. Thus, no remedies exist to penalize commercial establishments for taking extra precaution to prevent criminal activity from happening in their premises. The thesis concludes that the best solution would be to have legislation introduce provisions of law to create landlord liability for the commercial districts. By creating landlord liabilities, it would keep commercial establishments accountable by forcing them to introduce their own internal procedures to weed out criminal activities.