Top EU court rules Pablo Escobar’s name cannot be trademarked
Escobar Inc, which sells a cryptocurrency called Escobar Cash, had filed an application with the EU Intellectual Property Office
17 April 2024 - 22:21
byJulia Payne
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A shop is decorated with images of late Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, in Medellin, Colombia, April 12 2024. Picture: REUTERS/Juan David Duque
Brussels — The name of late Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar cannot be registered as an EU trade mark, the European Court of Justice ruled on Wednesday, after his brother tried to lay a claim.
The court upheld the decision of the EU’s intellectual property office (EUIPO) that refused a trade mark application by Escobar Inc in 2022.
“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 court said in a statement.
Escobar Inc was founded in Puerto Rico by Pablo Escobar’s brother Roberto de Jesús Escobar Gaviria, who spent 12 years in prison for his role in his brother’s criminal organisation.
Gaviria said in 2020 that his company would launch a foldable smartphone called the Escobar Fold 1. The company sells a cryptocurrency called Escobar Cash, according to its website.
Pablo Escobar led one of the world’s most powerful criminal organisations, the Medellin cartel. His fortune, made from trafficking cocaine, was estimated by Forbes in 1987 to have reached more than $3bn, though some accounts put it at much higher.
Thousands of people were killed in cartel-related violence during and after his death in 1993 when he was shot by security forces.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Top EU court rules Pablo Escobar’s name cannot be trademarked
Escobar Inc, which sells a cryptocurrency called Escobar Cash, had filed an application with the EU Intellectual Property Office
Brussels — The name of late Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar cannot be registered as an EU trade mark, the European Court of Justice ruled on Wednesday, after his brother tried to lay a claim.
The court upheld the decision of the EU’s intellectual property office (EUIPO) that refused a trade mark application by Escobar Inc in 2022.
“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 court said in a statement.
Escobar Inc was founded in Puerto Rico by Pablo Escobar’s brother Roberto de Jesús Escobar Gaviria, who spent 12 years in prison for his role in his brother’s criminal organisation.
Gaviria said in 2020 that his company would launch a foldable smartphone called the Escobar Fold 1. The company sells a cryptocurrency called Escobar Cash, according to its website.
Pablo Escobar led one of the world’s most powerful criminal organisations, the Medellin cartel. His fortune, made from trafficking cocaine, was estimated by Forbes in 1987 to have reached more than $3bn, though some accounts put it at much higher.
Thousands of people were killed in cartel-related violence during and after his death in 1993 when he was shot by security forces.
Reuters
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