Maradona’s heirs score legal win over footballer's name
Late icon’s lawyer claimed that name mark should be transferred to his company | Documents provided deemed insufficient to justify this action.
The heirs of Diego Maradona have secured their right to use the legendary footballer’s name after the General Court of the European Union refused to register the transfer of that trademark in favour of an Argentine company.
In a decision delivered in Luxembourg, yesterday, November 7, the court ruled that Sattvica—a Buenos Aires-based firm belonging to the former lawyer of the football player, Matías Morla—did not have a right to use his name.
In July 2001, Maradona applied to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) for the trademark registration of the word sign ‘Diego Maradona’.
The registration was sought for several personal hygiene and pharmacy products, as well as for clothing, footwear and headgear, including sports clothing and footwear.
The application also included a wide and diverse range of services, from restaurant and hospitality services to IT and copyright management services. The trademark was registered in January 2008.
Legal dispute
Maradona died in November 2020 and two months later, Sattvica requested for the EUIPO to register the transfer of the mark on the basis of two documents issued by Maradona.
These comprised an authorisation for the company’s commercial use of trademarks dated December 2015 and an undated agreement authorising use of the trademark.
When the EUIPO entered the transfer in the register, Maradona’s heirs succeeded in invalidating it.
The EUIPO’s March 2022 decision found that Sattvica had not submitted documents that sufficiently established that the trademark should be transferred.
Sattvica requested the General Court annul that EUIPO decision.
General Court: Documents not enough
But the court yesterday dismissed Sattvica’s action and confirmed the EUIPO’s assessment: that the documents produced by that company do not formally justify an assignment of the trademark in its favour under a contract signed between Sattvica and the late footballer.
Further, as Maradona had died before the request for registration of the transfer was submitted, Sattvica could not correct the irregularities detected in the documents. Nor was it able to produce any other documents.
Maradona is thought to have fathered at least eight children with six different women, according to reports. At the time of his death, he did not leave a will meaning that all of his recognised children automatically became his designated heirs.
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