| Trademark Registration | Corporate Counsel | Technology, Privacy and Law
An important decision by the #GeneralCourt has confirmed the denial of a trademark application for "Pablo Escobar" across a wide range of products and services (a whopping 33 classes) before the #EUIPO. This denial was based on it being contrary to #PublicPolicy and accepted #PrinciplesofMorality (Art 7(1)(f), R 2017/1001). Some key arguments from the decision that are worth noting: 🗨 Consideration must be given to the fact that the sign caught by that ground for refusal will shock not only the public to which the goods and services designated by the sign are addressed, but also other persons who, without being concerned by those goods and services, will encounter that sign incidentally in their day-to-day lives 🗣 The Spanish society would associate the name of Pablo Escobar with drug trafficking and narco-terrorism and with the crimes and suffering resulting therefrom, rather than with his possible good deeds in favour of the poor in Colombia, and would therefore perceive the mark applied for, corresponding to that name, as running counter to the fundamental values and moral standards prevailing within Spanish society. 🚨 Even do Pablo Escobar had never been criminally convicted and enjoyed the presumption of innocence, that did not prejudice the fact that, in view of the image created by literature and films, he was nevertheless perceived, by a non-negligible part of the relevant Spanish public taken into account, as the leader of a criminal organisation responsible for numerous crimes. 🔗 to the EUIPO application: https://lnkd.in/eRCVH6AG 🔗 to the decision: https://lnkd.in/eR_2JNNr #Trademark
The EU General Court recently rejected the 'Pablo Escobar' trade mark on the ground that the sign is considered contrary to public policy or to the accepted principles of morality. But when is a trade mark contrary to public policy or to accepted principles of morality excluded from registration? The wording used in the law is very broad and leaves plenty of room for interpretation both on the side of IP examiners and users. To address this gap, the EU Intellectual Property Network (EUIPN) has published a Common Practice that gives guidance to IP offices on how to better assess this type of trade marks. Access it here: https://lnkd.in/dFjZic-4 #trademarks #intellectualproperty