“It is against public order.”

Brussels · WhyThe European judiciary receives dozens of appeals every week to register all kinds of trademarks, and usually has to decide, for example, whether they are too similar to other existing logos or related to competing products. On the other hand, it is not usually the case that I judge the legitimacy of brands bearing the names of major criminals who are recognizable to the majority of EU citizens, as happened on Wednesday with Pablo Escobar. .

In the same line as the European Union Intellectual Property Office, the General Court of the European Union (TGUE) ratified the ban on the registration of the trademark that Escobar wanted to register, which was founded in 1984 in Medellin (Colombia) by the brother of the famous drug trafficker Roberto Escobar. In fact, it is also the group that manages all the intellectual property rights and inheritance left to it by Pablo Escobar.

The Luxembourg court says that a trademark bearing the name of the “alleged” criminal is considered “against public order and good morals” because of its association with “drug trafficking and drug terrorism,” especially in the Spanish state due to its historical and cultural value. Relationship with Colombia. “It is more associated with crime and suffering [que va provocar] TGUE's letter refers to his potential actions on behalf of poor Colombians.

Court decision

In a similar vein, the European Court considers that a trademark “would be perceived” as inconsistent with the “fundamental values ​​and norms” on which the European Union is based, such as human dignity, the rule of law or human rights principles. democracy

Thus, TGUE concludes that the EU Intellectual Property Office, based in the Levant, did not violate Escobar's presumption of innocence by denying it the trademark registration. Pablo Escobar From the beginning. The application arrived on September 30, 2021 from a registered office located in Puerto Rico (USA). However, the ruling by the TGUE, the European Court of First Instance of Justice, can still be appealed to the highest court, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).