Tonino Lamborghini: Globe has no right to use our logo

Italian lifestyle brand Tonino Lamborghini on August 25 reiterated its claim that Philippine-based Globe Telecom has no right to use its trademark and logo on the latter's 4G broadband dongles. Just the day before, Tonino Lamborghini issued a press statement calling the Globe Tattoo Tonino Lamborghini 4G broadband stick a "counterfeit product". 'Serious trademark infringement' The company said that Globe is engaged in a "deceitful and unlawful" campaign that "constitutes a serious trademark infringement" and which could lead "to a serious likelihood of confusion" between Tonino Lamborghini and Automobili Lamborghini, the car manufacturer. For its part, Globe Telecom said that it obtained authorization to use the name and logo of Tonino Lamborghini through an agreement with Singapore-based Primo Mobile, the master franchisor of mobile phone-related products for the Italian brand. Limited licensing agreement expired However, at around 7 p.m. Thursday (Philippine Time), Tonino Lamborghini posted a statement on its Facebook page saying that Primo Mobile only had a limited licensing agreement — and an expired one at that. "Tonino Lamborghini Group wishes to clarify that Primo Mobile had been granted only a trademark license — neither a master license nor a master franchise — but such trademark license agreement was duly terminated by the licensor, Tonino Lamborghini s.r.l., some months ago. In any case, such trademark license agreement did not authorize Primo Mobile to sub-license the use of the Tonino Lamborghini trademark and logo," the statement read.

A screenshot of Tonino Lamborghini's August 25 statement on its Facebook wall.

Globe investigation ongoing "As far as we know, we entered into a legal and binding agreement with Primo Mobile," a representative of Globe Telecom told GMA News Online, adding that the company is looking into the matter and will issue an official statement early Friday morning. The representative, who spoke on condition of anonymity for not having the authority to speak on the matter, reiterated Globe Telecom's commitment to maintaining "the highest ethical standards in business and good corporate governance," with the assurance that the company "will not engage in any activity that will mislead the public in the course of doing business and serving its customers." Globe launched its Tonino Lamborghini 4G broadband stick in June and touted it as the fastest wireless broadband solution in the country, capable of running speeds of up to 10Mbps. — VS, GMA News