Banksy facing potential cancellation of ‘flower bomber’ mark
Street artist Banksy was “forced” to set up a homeware shop in south London to establish use of his IP, after his ‘flower bomber’ mark was threatened by a cancellation proceeding at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).
The anonymous artist is embroiled in a dispute with a greetings card company that he claims is attempting to “take custody” of his name to “sell their fake Banksy merchandise legally”.
Banksy said he was forced to open the shop, which sells merchandise including toys and homewares such as rugs, in order to defend “the trademark I hold to my art”.
“Sometimes you go to work and it’s hard to know what to paint, but for the past few months I’ve been making stuff for the sole purpose of fulfilling trademark categories under EU law,” Banksy said in a statement.
The dispute appears to be related to an invalidity action brought by Full Colour Black, a company which “specialises in the commercialisation of world famous street art” and sells greeting cards.
In March this year, Full Colour Black petitioned the EUIPO to cancel Banksy’s trademark for a graphic representation of his famous ‘flower bomber’ painting, on the grounds that the artist has made no commercial use of it.
“It is used so commonly by multiple third parties as decoration for all manner of products that the relevant consumer would not recognise the mark as indicating origin,” Full Colour Black said.
Genuine use?
Hazel Tunney, partner at Tomkins in Dublin, told WIPR that Banksy’s strategy to establish his use of the mark may not pay off.
“If the pop up is simply to ‘use’ a mark because a non-use revocation action has been filed, then there's a good chance the use will be deemed token and solely for the purpose of maintaining the registration, and consequently insufficient to be deemed ‘genuine’ use,” Tunney said.
"I still encourage anyone to copy, borrow, steal and amend my art for amusement, academic research or activism,” Banksy’s statement said, adding, “I just don't want them to get sole custody of my name.”
According to The Guardian, Mark Stephens, founder of the Design and Artists Copyright Society, is advising Banksy on the dispute.
“Banksy is in a difficult position,” Stephens told the paper. “Because he doesn’t produce his own range of shoddy merchandise and the law is quite clear—if the trademark holder is not using the mark, then it can be transferred to someone who will.”
In late August, Pest Control Office, a “handling service” set up by Banksy to authenticate his work, registered an EU word mark for “Banksy” in classes 9, 16, 18, 25, 28, 41.
Banksy previously registered a stylised representation of his name with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) website in 2018.
The ‘shop’ is online-only, although members of the public can visit the showroom in Croydon, the artist confirmed on Instagram.
Items for sale include replicas of the stab-proof vest worn by rapper Stormzy during his headline slot at this year’s Glastonbury Festival, a disco ball made from riot helmets, and a children’s toy which involves loading figurines of migrants onto a truck.
Did you enjoy reading this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.
Today's top stories:
Meghan Markle brings copyright action against newspaper
Amazon launches IP law firm network
US trial against alleged Chinese trade secret theft set to begin
