He adds that since intellectual property rights are generally territorial, the trademark registration made and acquired in the Philippines would grant rights and privileges which the trademark owner may only enforce within the Philippine jurisdiction.

"That is the reason why multinational enterprises maintain a global trademark portfolio that aims to obtain trademark protection from different jurisdictions," he says. "A simple online search would reveal that Netflix has filed several similar filings for the “SQUID GAME” mark in different jurisdictions including the US, EU, China, Canada, Australia, Mexico, and Malaysia, to name a few."

With regards to unauthorized use of merchandise, he says that he has yet to encounter any in the case of “SQUID GAME”.

"However, with the global popularity of this magnitude, it does not take long for certain entities to take advantage and ride on the show’s immense popularity by selling unlicensed merchandise," he says. "This is why certain trademark filings cover multiple classes which aim to provide the trademark owner exclusivity to produce tie-up merchandise within the classes covered by the registration."


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