JUDICIAL AFFIDAVIT
I, Andrew de Castro, 50 years old, born on December 9, 1968, married to
Manuela de Castro, employed as Merchandising and Product Design Manager at
Sports Unlimited Philippines Corp., after having been duly sworn to in accordance
with law, hereby depose and state:
PRELIMINARY STATEMENT
That in accordance with A.M. No. 12-8-8-SC, which prescribes the use of
judicial affidavits to serve as the direct examination testimony of the witness, on the
basis of which the adverse party may conduct their cross-examination on such a
witness, I hereby execute this judicial affidavit in a question and answer format;
That conformably with section 3 (b) of the said A.M. No. 12-8-8-SC, I also
state that it was _________________, investigator of ______________________
who conducted the examination of the undersigned affiant;
That conformably also with section 3 (c) thereof, I hereby state under the
pain of perjury that in answering the questions asked of me, as appearing herein
below, I am fully conscious that I did so under oath, and that I may face criminal
liabilities for false testimony or perjury;
AND UNDER OATH, AVERS THE FOLLOWING:
[knowledge/information
similarities of “Fastball” and “Lasthole” marks]
1. Q : What are the reasons why you are voluntarily came to this Office?
A : I come to offer my findings on the trademarks found on the test buy
samples my team found in Greenhills.
2. Q : If that is the case, can you tell us how you came upon the test buy
samples?
A : Yes sir. On April 8, 1999, SUPC Board Members Alan Chua and
Jessica Mendoza were in the Greenhills flea market and saw several caps
for sale. They were confused because at first glance it looked similar to
Fastball caps, which were only to be sold exclusively in accredited sporting
goods stores. Upon closer inspection it turned out that the caps bore
“Lasthole” marks instead of “Fastball.” The next day, they went back to
Greenhills, bought two pieces of “Lasthole” caps, and transmitted them to
me for inspection.
3. Q : What exactly is your function in the company as Merchandising and
Product Design Manager?
Page 1 of 4
A : I’m the one assigned to manage the creatives as they submit designs
for the products and approve the designs for the products. I’m also the one to
oversee the relations between the corporation and our accredited
merchandise distributors.
4. Q : Designs such as what?
A : Designs such as the mark “Fastball and Devise.”
5. Q : What did you do then with the test buy samples?
A : I compared the “Lasthole” caps with our “Fastball” caps.
6. Q : What were the results?
A : I at first had trouble telling the two designs apart. The words on the
marks were both written in cursive, in similar font styles. The filigrees on the
beginning of the capital F in “Fastball” and the capital L in “Lasthole” looked
very similar, as well as the filigrees at the lowercase L in “Fastball” and the
lowercase E at the end of “Lasthole.” Both of them had the design of balls on
the third to the last letter, a design of a baseball in “Fastball” and a design of a
golf ball in “Lasthole,” which is difficult to distinguish from a distance. At the
bottom of the “Fastball” design, there is a horizontally placed baseball bat,
while at the bottom of the “Lasthole” design, there is a horizontally placed golf
club, again difficult to distinguish from a distance. The words of both of the
marks are both set against dark backdrops, “Fastball” inside a dark circle,
while “Lasthole” in a dark quarter circle shape. They were so similar in form
and design. It was obvious to me then that the “Lasthole” design was
patterned after our company’s “Fastball” trademark.
7. Q : How do you say so?
A : Well, because clearly “Fastball” is a popular mark. SUPC has been
manufacturing, exporting, and selling “Fastball” caps in the Philippines since
its incorporation in 1975. (EXH. __: SALES INVOICES) It’s not unthinkable
then that the entity behind the “Lasthole” design saw our mark and patterned
theirs after it.
8. Q : How do you characterize it as a popular mark?
A : Our “Fastball” trademark has been used by the SUI Corporation since
1916 in the United States. The product has been well-known around the world
since SUI’s print ad campaign in the 1940s (EXH. __: PRINT AD), and even
more so when the television and radio campaigns worldwide began in the
1960s. In fact, the reason this subsidiary was incorporated because the brand
became so famous here in the Philippines in 1975.
9. Q : For the meantime, I don’t have further questions, do you have any
statements to add or take away on this affidavit?
A : I don’t have sir for the meantime.
10. Q : Were you threatened, promised or bribed to do this confession?
A : No sir. I made it voluntarily with my own free will.
11. Q : Are you willing to sign this affidavit consisting of four (4) pages, to
Page 2 of 4
certify that all the statements you made are true.
A : Yes sir.
---------END OF STATEMENT----------
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I hereunto set my hand below this _______ day of
______, 2018 at ________________________
________________________
Affiant
SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this ____ day of ___________,
2016 at ___________________________. Further, I certify that I personally
examined the herein affiant that he voluntarily executed and fully understood his
statements.
________________________
Administering Officer
ATTESTATION
I, ________________________, investigator of ____(Police Station)____,
____(Location)_____________, on my oath as the Investigator-on-Case (IOC),
hereby depose and states:
That I have personally conducted the foregoing examination to the witness-
affiant ____________________ at ____(Police Station)____,
____(Location)_____________;
That I have faithfully recorded and translated into English language the
questions asked of him/her and the corresponding answers that he/she gave in
response to the questions asked;
Neither I nor any other person/s coached this witness-affiant regarding the
answers given by her.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I hereunto set my hand below this _______ day of
______, 2018 at ________________________.
________________________
Investigator
Page 3 of 4
SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this ____ day of ___________,
2018 at ___________________________. Further, I certify that I personally
examined the herein affiant that he voluntarily executed and fully understood his
statements.
________________________
Administering Officer
Page 4 of 4
