Imagine having a pizza chain called "The Mafia"; well the EU courts in Italy did not see any humor in it and refused to grant European trademark protection for the Spanish-owned company.
LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - EU judges failed to see the funny side of branding a chain of pizzerias as “The Mafia”, rejecting an appeal on Thursday by a Spanish company to keep European trademark protection for its marketing slogan.
The European Union’s General Court in Luxembourg agreed with a complaint by the Italian government that it was immoral to trade on the name of a “criminal organization” whose “activities breach the very values on which the EU is founded”.
The judgment, which can be appealed to the European Court of Justice, found that the EU Intellectual Property Office was right to accept Italy’s demand in 2015 to cancel a 10-year-old trademark held by La Mafia Franchises of Madrid, which runs a national chain offering pizzas, pasta and other Italian cuisine.
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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-e...-idUSKCN1GR1XV