And so to Luxembourg, for the General Court of the European Union’s ruling on a trade mark appeal brought by the brother of the late (alleged) Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar (pictured), shot dead by police in 1993.
Roberto Escobar had sought to register the family name as an EU trade mark for goods and services. The EU IP Office was not impressed, rejecting the trade mark on the ground that it was ‘contrary to public policy and to accepted principles of morality’.
In Escobar v EUIPO, the higher court agreed. According to the court, the IP office was correct to assume that ‘reasonable Spaniards, with average sensitivity and tolerance thresholds and who share the indivisible and universal values on which the European Union is founded’ would ‘associate the name of Pablo Escobar with drug trafficking and narco-terrorism’.
Ah, but what about the presumption of innocence? Not an issue, the court ruled. ‘Even though [Escobar] was never criminally convicted, he is publicly perceived in Spain as a symbol of organised crime responsible for numerous crimes.’
But what goods and services does Escobar Inc supply? According to its website, it is ‘currently responsible for managing the assets of the Escobar family, including but not limited to the intellectual property rights and licensing of same’. All perfectly above board, then.
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