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The name Pablo Escobar may not be Registered as an EU Trademark
By Vera Abogados
On September 2021, Escobar Inc., established in Puerto Rico (United States), filed an application with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) for registration of the word sign Pablo Escobar as an EU trademark for a wide range of goods and services.
The Colombian national named Pablo Escobar, who was born on 1 December 1949 and died on 2 December 1993, is presumed to be a drug lord and a narco-terrorist who founded and was the sole leader of the Medellín cartel(Colombia).
EUIPO rejected the application for registration on the ground that the mark was contrary to public policy and to accepted principles of morality. It relied on the perception of the Spanish public, as it is the most familiar with Pablo Escobar due to the links between Spain and Colombia.
Escobar Inc. brought an action against that decision before the General Court of the European Union. The Court upholded the refusal to register the trademark Pablo Escobar.
According to the Court, EUIPO could rely, in its assessment, on the perception of reasonable Spaniards, with average sensitivity and tolerance thresholds and who share the indivisible and universal values on which the European Union is founded (human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity, and the principles of democracy and the rule of law and the right to life and physical integrity).
EUIPO correctly found that those persons 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. The trademark would therefore be perceived as running counter to the fundamental values and moral standards prevailing within Spanish society.
The Court adds that Pablo Escobar's fundamental right to the presumption of innocence has not been infringed because, even though he was never criminally convicted, he is publicly perceived in Spain as a symbol of organised crime responsible for numerous crimes.
Vera Abogados
VERA ABOGADOS ASOCIADOS S.A.-, is a Colombian law firm with specialized lawyers, Founded more than 40 years ago, by Jorge E. Vera Vargas, Doctor in Law and Political Sciences of the La Gran Colombia University in Bogota D.C., Colombia. At present, with principal offices in the city of Bogota D.C., and offices in the cities of Cali, Medellin, Barranquilla, at national level, and at an international level in Ecuador and Panama.
The Firm is today a reference in the Andean Community, and it makes part of important international affiliations such as PRAGMA, EEIG. International Network of Law Firm, The International Trademark Association (INTA), Asociación Interamericana de Propiedad Industrial (ASIPI), Associação Brasileira da Propriedade Intelectual (ABPI), and the Chamber of Industrial Property Agents of the Republic of Argentina(CAPIRA).
VERA ABOGADOS ASOCIADOS S.A. offers professional services to prestigious Colombian and foreign companies in the following juridical areas: Industrial property, Trademarks, Patents, Copyrights, New Technologies, Disloyal Competition, Commercial Practices, Sanitary Rights, Community Right, Administrative law, Tax Law, Corporate Right and Foreign Investment and Business Rights.
The Firm offers of equal way a service of integral consultancy in Foreign Commerce, Business administration, Finance and Accountancy. The team is made up of specialized lawyers in each of the workspaces and expert multilingual professionals (Spanish, English and French) that respond with efficiency and competitiveness to the needs and demands of our customers around the world.