After two decades of legal disputes, Lacoste has lost the trademark battle over Crocodile, after the Philippine Supreme Court ruled in favour of the latter, allowing the Singapore-based brand to register and use its logo in the country. 

The decision dismisses the French fashion giant’s longstanding claim that Crocodile’s logo was “strikingly similar” to its own crocodile emblem. 

Lacoste initially filed a Notice of Opposition against Crocodile’s trademark application in 2004, arguing the visual similarities would harm its brand. 

The brand – which has operated in the Philippines since 1963 – argued that Crocodile’s left-facing crocodile logo with the word “Crocodile” would confuse customers with its right-facing crocodile logo.

Despite the brand’s long-standing position, the Intellectual Property Office-Bureau of Legal Affairs (IPO-BLA), and the Intellectual Property Office-Director General (IPO-DG), rejected its opposition in 2009, a ruling later upheld by the Court of Appeals in 2015.

However, the Supreme Court, in a finding written by Justice Antonio Kho, sided with Crocodile, saying it found that the two logos were sufficiently different. 

“The court finds no cogent reason to reverse the uniform rulings of the IPO-BLA, the IPO-DG, and the CA in denying Lacoste’s opposition to Crocodile’s trademark application for the mark ‘Crocodile and Device’,” said Kho. 

Crocodile International, which began exporting its products to the Philippines in 2002, reaffirmed that its logo was distinct from Lacoste’s, saying it coexists peacefully in other markets such as Japan, China, and South Korea. 

The court said that this international coexistence was a key factor in its ruling, which dismissed Lacoste’s fears of brand confusion.