Led by Simeon Marcelo, Cruz Marcelo & Tenefrancia is highly regarded in the dispute resolution field with solid expertise in the areas of commercial and transactions, intellectual property and alternative dispute resolution. The firm is singled out for its remarkable track record of acting on high-profile public interest and pro bono cases. Simeon Marcelo is noted for his commercial and tax disputes expertise while John Jerico Balisnomo is active in government and regulatory litigation. IP partner Susan Villanueva is another key name to note. The firm represented Unicapital in a loan recovery matter involving allegations of fraudulent representations. The case centred on a substantial loan allegedly obtained through misrepresentations related to a government contract.
Client feedback
"The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) highly recognizes the lawyers’ technical and legal expertise in sharing their actual and practical experiences and technical advice in patent drafting, prosecution, freedom to operate searches, litigation, intellectual property rights valuation, and commercialization. These are instrumental in DOST’s efforts to foster effective intellectual property management and culture among the science and technology personnel, and faculty researchers, particularly in state universities and colleges, and local universities. And with the firm’s reputable and accommodating lawyers, the firm is a go-to collaborating partner for the pool of resource persons for various IP and patent-related capacity-building initiatives of the DOST. The engaged IP lawyers do customize learning tools that would fit the needs and profile of faculty researchers; and they are very accommodating to DOST's requests and find time to be of service to the government." – Intellectual property
Rowanie Nakan
“Rowanie Nakan's heart for serving the country and public service through sharing her invaluable time and expertise (industry, technical, and legal) paved the way for enabling the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to be effective in fostering innovation and intellectual property awareness and management for research outputs and technologies. For instance, despite her busy schedule, she offers other mutually workable schedules with us clients as she wants to be of service to the government. Her passion and dedication to sharing her technical and practical expertise are evident during the assessment activities, wherein she generously provides recommendations and guidance to technology generators and licensees, as well as her superb efforts in drafting very insightful and comprehensive fairness opinion reports. Nakan even brought her team in their tailored training-workshop for faculty researchers and DOST personnel. Moreover, despite her high position in the firm, Nakan is very approachable and accommodating."
Susan Villanueva
"She is professional."
