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Ayala Land subsidiary told to pay inventor P90M in damages |
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Tuesday, 25 December 2007 22:50 |
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{mosimage}MANILA, Philippines--A Quezon City judge has ordered a subsidiary of real estate developer Ayala Land Inc. to pay an inventor more than P90 million in damages for using his patent for a modular housing system without his consent.
In his decision dated Dec. 18, Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 90 Judge Reynaldo Daway said the acts of Avida Land Corp. were an infringement of Edgardo Vazquez’s patent invention.
Vazquez is the president and chief executive officer of Vazquez Building Systems Corp. and former president of the Filipino Inventor’s Society.
He sued the Ayala Land subsidiary for infringement on Dec. 10, 1999 after the firm allegedly copied the process of assembling an exterior wall structure of a modular housing unit, which the petitioner said he invented in 1994.
Vazquez demanded that Avida pay him P300 million in damages for allegedly copying the Vazquez columns—characterized by H-shaped sections and wall panels—and using them in its housing projects, particularly in the Sta. Isabel Village in Lucena City.
Avida, however, denied his accusations, arguing that it had used the modular building system of Tex Holdings Plc., a British firm, and Swiss builder Maison Individuelles SA.
In his decision, Daway said that Avida’s columns and concrete wall panels used in its housing projects in Tayabas, Quezon; Naga City; Sto. Tomas, Batangas; Trece Martirez, Cavite and Cebu City were "substantially similar or identical in appearance and construction" to Vazquez’s invention.
Daway further noted that the differences or dissimilarities in the design pointed out by the defendant "can hardly be noticed."
He then ordered Avida to pay Vazquez more than P90 million as "temperate damages or reasonable royalty with interest of six percent per annum from the time the infringement case was filed."
Daway also directed the defendant to immediately stop using the Vazbuilt technology in its housing projects.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net) tried to call officials of Avida Land Corp. but they could not be reached for comment.
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