Vic Sotto, Joey de Leon and Tito Sotto expressed joy and gratitude when they met the press today to talk about the favorable decision they got from the Intellectual Property Office for their petition to cancel the registration made by their former producer over the trademark of the noontime show Eat Bulaga!

The trio, collectively known by their initials TVJ, hosted Eat Bulaga! since its inception in 1979 until they broke away from its producer, TAPE, Inc. in May 2023. The following month, they started hosting and producing a new show they named E.A.T. on TV5. They brought along with them all the other Eat Bulaga! cohosts, including Allan K, Jose Manalo, Wally Bayola and Paolo Ballesteros, as well as its core creative team.

“Indeed, the truth will always prevail,” Tito said as he read their group’s official statement. “Yesterday, the Intellectual Property Office, Bureau of Legal Affairs, decided that we—Tito, Vic and Joey—are the rightful owners and originators of the trademarks Eat Bulaga! and EB. Thus, we, TVJ, have the exclusive and absolute right to register the said marks and all its variations.”

He added, “In this regard, the IPO cancelled the trademark registration of TAPE, Inc. over the marks Eat Bulaga! and EB. TAPE, Inc. failed to prove that they conceptualized Eat Bulaga! and EB. It is Joey de Leon who coined these marks in 1979 in my kitchen in White Plains.”

The host-turned-politician went on explaining, “In our petition, we explained the significance of the design and the origin of each word that comprises Eat Bulaga! TAPE, Inc. did not even refute nor contradict our narration of the origin of the marks. In fact, they corroborated our claims when they said that Romeo Jalosjos only chose the name Eat Bulaga! among the list given to him.

“Thus, the IPO finds our petition to be believable, credible and strong controverting evidence against TAPE, Inc.’s registration. The IPO took note and recognized Joey’s creative efforts in conceptualizing the words Eat Bulaga! In its decision, the IPO said ‘it is not the application or the registration that confers ownership of a mark but it is the ownership the right of registration.’”

He continued, “We have sufficiently proven to the IPO that we, TVJ, are the owners of those marks, therefore, as earlier mentioned, it is only us and no one else have all the right to register the subject marks. TAPE, Inc. should not be allowed to profit from the business reputation built by TVJ.

“For how many decades, TVJ garnered goodwill over the Eat Bulaga! brand and the general public even said that TVJ is Eat Bulaga! and Eat Bulaga! is TVJ. The IPO’s favorable decision, while it’s just the beginning, is indeed a milestone and a welcoming development for our legal claims.”

In conclusion, he exclaimed, “We express our heartfelt thanks to our dear Lord, our God; to our family; and all the solid Dabarkads who are with us in this journey. Maraming, maraming salamat po!”