- Title: European court rules drug lord Pablo Escobar's name cannot be trademarked
- Date: 17th April 2024
- Summary: MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA (FILE - DECEMBER 20, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FOLDING SMARTPHONE RELEASED BY ESCOBAR INC IN FRONT OF ARTWORK OF ESCOBAR SCREEN OF SMARTPHONE SHOWING PHOTOGRAPH OF ESCOBAR / PRIEST HOLDING PHONE ESCOBAR'S BROTHER, ROBERTO ESCOBAR GAVIRIA, SPEAKING NEXT TO OPEN BRIEFCASE WITH LOGO OF ESCOBAR INC INSIDE VARIOUS OF ESCOBAR GAVIRIA DEMONSTRATING PHONE ESCOBAR GAVIRIA TALKING ON PHONE NUMBER PLATE WITH DESIGN OF ESCOBAR'S FACE
- Embargoed: 1st May 2024 12:30
- Keywords: Escobar Inc European Court of Justice Medellin drug cartel Pablo Escobar
- Location: LUXEMBOURG, LUXEMBOURG / VARIOUS LOCATIONS, COLOMBIA
- City: LUXEMBOURG, LUXEMBOURG / VARIOUS LOCATIONS, COLOMBIA
- Country: Luxembourg
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Europe,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA003522815042024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES
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 (April 17), 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 organization.
Gaviria said in 2020 that his company would launch a foldable smartphone called the Escobar Fold 1. The company currently sells a cryptocurrency called Escobar Cash, according to its website.
Pablo Escobar led one of the world's most powerful criminal organizations, the Medellin cartel. His fortune, made from trafficking cocaine, was estimated by Forbes in 1987 to have reached over $3 billion although some accounts put it at much higher.
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