Dis-United

The rivalry between the US giant UnitedHealth Group and the Philipines’ own United Laboratories (Unilab) has been revived.

Unilab, the Philippines’ homegrown regional drug conglomerate, is seeking to stop US insurance and managed care giant UnitedHealth Group from locally registering its allegedly confusingly similar name and trademark.

UnitedHealth already has a backroom presence in the Philippines, operating two BPO offices in Taguig and Quezon City under a different corporate name, Optum. The new litigation at the Intellectual Property Office came after the US multinational failed in 2013 to stop Unilab from registering “United Health” as part of Unilab’s stable of pharmaceutical companies.

That 2013 setback was even more embarrassing for the American multinational, since its own counsel, Emeterio V. Soliven & Associates, failed to submit on time the proper “legalized” documents being required by the local trademark office. Despite its 2013 victory, Unilab apparently failed to form a new “United Health” subsidiary, which created another opportunity for the US multinational to seek a new registration for the same trademark.

Money talks

• The world’s richest woman, Walmart heiress Alice Walton, was in Manila earlier this week, in one of her frequent but unpublicized trips to the Philippines.

The youthful head of DoubleDragon, Injap Sia, was among the lucky few to have been invited to the very VIP dinner with the $45-billion woman.

• Lucio “Bong” Tan Jr., through his Tanduay Rhum, is sponsoring the charity game of NBA champion Golden State Warriors against Utah Jazz on Feb. 12 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland.

The sponsorship is part of Tanduay’s increased marketing and promotion efforts in the United States.

Heard through the grapevine

Perhaps it was the Baby Cruz tonic, or the combined effects of age and time, or the lingering good tidings brought by the Yuletide/New Year holidays, or a combination of all these factors, but real estate developer Daniel Vazquez has dropped his long-standing opposition against the rehabilitation of Urdaneta Apartments, much to the delight of his long-irritated condo neighbors.

E-mail: moneygoround.manila@yahoo.com