Lacoste loses trademark dispute with Crocodile

The ruling said Lacoste’s and Crocodile’s trademarks are sufficiently different from one another.

The Philippine Supreme Court has ruled against French fashion brand Lacoste in its longstanding trademark dispute with Singapore-based Crocodile.

On August 18, 2004, Lacoste filed a Notice of Opposition, arguing that the registration of Crocodile's "CROCODILE AND DEVICE" mark would cause harm due to its similarity to Lacoste's own "CROCODILE DEVICE" mark.

However, the Supreme Court said, in a ruling dated 6 November 2023, but made public on 10 September, that, “there are pronounced differences between Lacoste’s and Crocodile’s marks, which resultantly, make them distinguishable from one another.” 

The ruling emphasises that the visual appearance and overall commercial impression of the marks are different enough to eliminate any likelihood of confusion.

Moreover, the Court's decision is supported by evidence of the marks’ coexistence in other jurisdictions and similar rulings in countries like Japan and Myanmar, which also found no confusing similarity between the two brands.