The European Union’s General Court has upheld the refusal to register the European Union trade mark PABLO ESCOBAR no. 018568583 on the grounds that the mark was contrary to public policy and accepted principles of morality.
The Court considered that “the mark applied for … would be perceived as contrary to public policy and accepted principles of morality by the significant part of the relevant Spanish public who would associate it with the crimes committed by the Medellín cartel or directly attributed to Pablo Escobar, which were unacceptable in modern democratic societies, since they were absolutely contrary to the ethical and moral principles recognised not only in Spain but also in all the Member States of the Union, and constituted one of the most serious threats to the fundamental interests of society and to the maintenance of social peace and order. The trade mark applied for would contradict, for a significant proportion of the large public exposed to it, the indivisible and universal values on which the Union is founded, namely human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity, as well as the principles of democracy and the rule of law, as proclaimed in the Charter, and the right to life and physical integrity. Furthermore, for the many consumers of the goods and services in question who, particularly in Spain, share those values, the trade mark applied for could be perceived as being highly offensive or shocking, as an apology for crime and as trivialising the suffering caused to the thousands of people killed or injured by the Medellín cartel, of which Pablo Escobar was the alleged leader. This suffering would not be erased by the actions in favour of the poor or the role of “Robin Hood” that the applicant or many Colombians would attribute to Pablo Escobar”.
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