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Village execs to sue resto over ‘Tuslob Buwa’ trademark

By John Rey Saavedra

March 6, 2020, 9:00 pm

<p><strong>LEGAL ACTION</strong>. Screencap in left shows the statement of officials from Barangay Suba, Cebu City who threaten to sue Azul restaurant for registering a street dish,"Tuslob Buwa" (dip in bubbles) which is a name of their yearly festival, as shown in right photo. The statement came amid claim of the restaurant posted on Facebook that it registered "Tuslob Buwa" before the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines that anyone who uses the phrase is illegal. <em>(PNA photo courtesy of Barangay Suba)</em></p>

LEGAL ACTION. Screencap in left shows the statement of officials from Barangay Suba, Cebu City who threaten to sue Azul restaurant for registering a street dish,"Tuslob Buwa" (dip in bubbles) which is a name of their yearly festival, as shown in right photo. The statement came amid claim of the restaurant posted on Facebook that it registered "Tuslob Buwa" before the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines that anyone who uses the phrase is illegal. (PNA photo courtesy of Barangay Suba)

CEBU CITY -- The officials of a coastal village here on Friday vowed to take legal action against a restaurant for registering the word “Tuslob Buwa” (dip in bubbles) before the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) in the Philippines.

In a statement posted on social media, the officials in Barangay Suba said they will question the act of the restaurant, Azul, for claiming ownership over Tuslob Buwa, stressing that such word has become part of the lives of the residents in the village and its neighboring Barangay Pasil.

“We, the people of Brgy. Suba and Pasil are very much angered (because) Tuslob Buwa goes beyond the name. It has been a culture to the people of Brgy. Suba and Pasil. Tuslob Buwa has been and is still the go-to breakfast of Pasilnon and Subanian students,” read a part of the statement.

Tuslob Buwa has been a popular street food in Cebu often partnered with “puso” (hanging rice). It became popular in the mid-80s, the dish's main ingredients are pig brain mixed with a little soy sauce.

A few minutes of blast cooking in small amount of oil, the dish pan produces bubbles where young and old dip a small chunk of puso.

Suba village chief Joel Sable Sr. said even before Tuslob Buwa became a catch phrase in Cebu, it has been a known street food to residents and visitors in their barangay.

“Many know and they cannot deny the fact that Tuslob Buwa originally came from us. Bisa’g i-register pa na nila (Even if they register it),” Sable said in a radio interview.

The dish, he said, has been the name of their annual festival during Sto. Niño fiesta every January.

“How could they claim Tuslob Buwa when this existed even before Azul started their business? Since 2015, Barangay Suba celebrates our annual Tuslob Buwa Festival. Are we not allowed to use Tuslob Buwa to celebrate our annual feast? Azul didn’t want Tuslob Buwa to be used by anyone but they definitely stole the word and idea from us, the people of Barangay Suba and Pasil,” the statement read.

The officials urged IPO “to reassess and cancel the trademark because Tuslob Buwa is not Azul's intellectual property.”

They said many Cebuanos, not just Subanians and Pasilnons, can attest that Tuslob Buwa has been a known street dish in their villages.

“Tuslob Buwa can't be and shouldn't be taken from us. This is our culture. This is our pride,” they said.

This threat of legal action came after the restaurant posted on Facebook Thursday stating “a friendly reminder” from Azul Tuslob Buwa that “this word, phrase or logo is exclusively owned” by it and any unauthorized use of these is against the law.

However, the post drew flak from the netizens, reminding the restaurant about the origin of the dish.

“Azul cannot claim intellectual property ownership over something that is already considered as ‘public domain’ or one that is already known to be existing prior to its registration. Tuslob Buwa has been around since the ‘80s in Suba where I grew up,” said Chris Malazarte, a real estate investment expert and newspaper columnist who is a native of Barangay Suba.

Malazarte warned the IPO the motive of the restaurant in monopolizing and making “undue gain from those who make a decent living out of this popular dish.”

Human rights lawyer Vince Isles, on his Facebook post, asked the IPO to check if the word is not common phrase and has distinctiveness for it to be registered as a trademark.

The restaurant management declined to comment on the matter. (PNA)

 

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