REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE

BUREAU OF LEGAL AFFAIRS

PARASOUL UK LTD.,
Plaintiff,

- versus -
CIVIL CASE NO. 20-12269
PAYONG CO., FOR: Patent Infringement
Defendant.

x----------------------------------------x

JUDICIAL QUESTION-AND-ANSWER
AFFIDAVIT

Atty. Jose Lorenzo T. Roman of the Roman Esteban Medalla

and Santos Law Firm (REMS Law), conducted this examination at
1:00 pm on 16 March 2020 in the REMS Law case conference room
located in the 4th Floor of the Dynavision Building, 108 Rada Street,
Makati City, Manila.

I.
PRELIMINARY MATTERS

Q1: Please state your name, address, occupation and other

personal circumstances.
A1: I am Andrea Simmons, Australian, married, and residing at #20
Argentina St. Loyola Grand Villas, Quezon City. I am the Vice-
president for International Sales for Parasoul Australia

Q2: Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing
but the truth?
A2: Yes, I do.

Q3: Are you aware that you may face criminal liability for false
testimony or perjury if you do not tell the truth?
A3: Yes, I am.

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 II.
OFFER OF TESTIMONY

Plaintiff respectfully offers the testimony of this witness to:

1. prove that Parasoul Australia has been selling a manual-

opening version of the umbrella covered by Patent No. 1-2010-004540
in the Philippines as early as 2005;

2. testify that in deciding the type of umbrella to be sold in

the Philippines, Parasoul Australia considered relevant decisive
factors such as production costs, market profile of the Filipino
consumer, the perceived sturdiness of a manual-opening umbrella,
and the climate in the Philippines;

3. testify that because of the factors mentioned in the next

preceding statement, Parasoul Australia decided to sell the manual-
opening version of the umbrella covered by Patent No. 1-2010-004540
instead of the automatic version;

4. testify that Parasoul Australia is currently marketing and

selling the automatic version in other countries in other countries it
does business in, other than the Philippines;

5. testify that because of the act of Payong Co. in selling its

umbrella with flashlight In the Philippines, the sales of Umbrellight
has been gradually diminishing since 2016, which is being
accompanied by an equivalent increase in the sales of Payong Co. for
the same time frame..;

6. other relevant purposes.

III.
EXAMINATION PROPER

Q4: What is your full job title?

A4: I am the Vice-president for International Sales for Parasoul
Australia.

Q5: Since when have you held this job?

A5: I was appointed on June 12, 2000.

Q6: Did you hold any position or positions with Parasoul

Australia before you were appointed to your current position, if
any?
A6: Yes.
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Q7: What are these positions?
A7: I was hired as a marketing officer for the Melbourne office of
Parasoul Australia in 1989 and was promoted to marketing
director of the entire operations of Parasoul Australia in 1994.

Q8: What are your responsibilities as the “Vice-president for

International Sales” of Parasoul Australia?
A8: I am tasked with overseeing contractual obligations with
individual country representatives regarding the sales
operations of each country. I am also heavily involved with
country-specific marketing campaigns and strategy planning.

Q9: When did Parasoul Australia decide to enter the Philippine

umbrella market?
A9: It was decided around early 2013 that Parasoul Australia is
going to enter the Philippine market in early 2014.

Q10: How was this decided?

A10: The board of directors of Parasoul Australia adopted a proposal
that I drafted with my team which says that there is profit-
earning potential present in the Philippine market.

Q11: What were the key factors Parasoul Australia considered in

deciding to enter into the Philippine market?
A11: In addition to the profit-earning potential, the climate of the
Philippines, which consists of a wet and dry season, as well as
relatively low labor costs, heavily influenced the decision of
Parasoul Australia. Basically, we saw a huge market that we
can tap.

Q12: What steps were taken by Parasoul Australia to enter the

Philippine Market?
A12: Other than filing the required paper work with the relevant
government agencies, a licensing agreement was entered into
with Parasoul UK Ltd., which granted Parasoul Australia the
exclusive right in the Philippines to make, use, sell, offer for
sale, and/or import all products which use the technology
covered by Patent No. 1-2010-004540 during the term thereof.

Q13: Does Parasoul Australia conduct business in other countries,

if any?
A13: Yes.

Q14: What kind of business?

A14: It also sells umbrellas.
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Q15: Are their differences between the product Parasoul Australia
is selling in the Philippines and other countries, if any?
A15: Yes.

Q16: What are these differences?

A16: The umbrellas being sold in the Philippines may be manually
opened and closed, while the umbrellas being sold in other
countries may be opened and closed automatically with a push
of a button.

Q17: Why were these differences incorporated in the product being

sold in the Philippines?
A17: We decided to cut corners in certain aspects of our product by
removing features we deemed unnecessary in order to be able
to make the Philippine version of the Umbrellight cheaper and
thus more affordable and accessible to the general public.

Q18: You mentioned earlier that part of your job is being heavily
involved with marketing campaigns and strategy planning
per country, correct?
A18: Yes.

Q19: What actions have you taken involving these matters, if any?
A19: I commissioned AGB Nielsen Media Research Philippines to
conduct a market study in the first quarter of 2020.

Q20: What was this study about?

A20: This study was to determine and to compare the market share
of the Umbrellight as compared to other top competitors in the
umbrella market.

Q21: Why did you commission this study?

A21: I noticed that our sales have been steadily dwindling and I
wanted to know what the reasons behind this are.

Q22: I am showing you a copy of a line graph conducted by the

market research firm AGB Nielsen Media Research
Philippines. What is the relation of this umbrella to the one
you mentioned, if any?
A22: That is the same study.

Counsel: Your Honor, may we request that this document of

the market share line graph be marked as Exh. “F”.

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Q23: Did you and your team at Parasoul Australia derive any
conclusions from the market study commissioned, if any?
A23: Yes.

Q24: What conclusion or conclusions are these?

A24: We concluded that the main reason for our dwindling sales in
the introduction of the product of Payong Co. in the Philippine
umbrella market.

Q25: How did you reach these conclusions?

A25: The line graph shows that the market share of Payong Co.’s
product is increasing by the same rate that the market share of
Umbrellight is decreasing. The line graph also highlights that
this decline started in 2016, the year that Payong Co. started
selling its product in the Philippines.

Q26: Do you warrant that all copies attached to this judicial

affidavit are faithful reproductions of their originals?
A26: Yes, I do.

Q27: Do you confirm and affirm that the allegations and

information in this judicial affidavit are true and correct
based on your personal knowledge?
A27: Yes, I do.

Counsel: Nothing further. Your Honor, we are adopting this

Judicial Affidavit of the witness as his direct
testimony. She is now ready for cross-examination.

ANDREA SIMMONS
Affiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this ________________2020

at Quezon City, Affiant ANDREA SIMMONS exhibiting his
Australian Passport , with No.___________.

Doc No. ________;

Page No. _______ ;
Book No. _______;
Series of 2020.

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 ATTESTATION

I, ATTY. JOSE LORENZO T. ROMAN, of the REMS Law

Firm, with office address 4th Floor of the Dynavision Building, 108
Rada Street, Makati City, Manila, attest under oath as follows:

1. I personally conducted the examination of

Andrea Simmons who resides at #20 Argentina Street,
Loyola Grand Villas, Quezon City;

2. I faithfully recorded the questions I asked and the

corresponding answers he gave; and,

3. Neither I nor any other person then present coached

him regarding him answers.

JOSE LORENZO T. ROMAN

Affiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this _______________

2020 at Quezon City, affiants exhibiting to me their government-
issued Identification Card bearing No. _______________, issued on
______ and valid until __________; and ______________, issued on
______ and valid until __________, respectively.
 
Doc No. ________;
Page No. _______ ;
Book No. _______;
Series of 2020.

Respectfully submitted. 

Quezon City, ________________, 2020.

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COPY FURNISHED (thru e-mail):
ATTY. JAMELA DEVANADERA