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31 July 2014Trademarks

‘Skywalker’ passport signature rejected due to trademark claim

A woman who legally added ‘Skywalker’ to her name has been denied a passport renewal after being told by government officials her new signature infringes a trademark.

Laura Matthews amended her signature to ‘L. Skywalker’ to reflect the addition of Skywalker to her name in homage to Luke Skywalker, a character in science fiction franchise Star Wars.

The trademark ‘Luke Skywalker’ belongs to Lucasfilm Ltd, the film production company that makes the Star Wars films.

The idea to add the name—which made her full name Laura Elizabeth Skywalker Matthews—came following a conversation with friends in 2008.

But Matthews has been told she might have to submit a new passport form with her old signature, although she would be able to keep her new full name on the document.

In a statement, the Home Office, the government department that processes passport applications, said it will “not recognise a change to a name which is subject to copyright or trademark”.

“We have a duty to ensure the reputation of the UK passport is not called into question or disrepute,” a spokesman added.

Patricia Collis, trademark attorney at Bristows LLP in London, said it was difficult to see how it could actually be construed as trademark infringement because it is “simply a signature of a legal name” on a passport.

Collis said that while the passport office was being “overly cautious”, the case did raise an interesting point, as one of the defences to a claim of trademark infringement is that a person is using their own name.

Collis added: “However, this comes with the important caveat that such use must be in accordance with ‘honest practices’, so trademark owners can rest assured that members of the public can’t go changing their names to trademarked terms in a bid to get away with infringing activity.”

Despite the recent problems with her passport, Matthews told the BBC she does not regret her decision to change her name and signature.

“It's on my driving licence, my bank cards, everything. Everyone else is happy with that signature apart from passport office,” Matthews said.

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4 December 2014   A woman who fell foul of trademark law after putting ‘Skywalker’ on a passport application has had her passport cancelled despite the UK government initially granting the application.