Banksy loses trademark for “Flower Archer”

The British street artist “Banksy” lost the trademark of the famous graffiti artist “Rami Al-Zuhoor”, because the concealment of his identity means that the work cannot be officially attributed to him, according to a European decision published this Thursday. The decision of the European Union Intellectual Property Office, based in Spain, includes one of the most famous works of “Banksy”, which took place on a wall in occupied Jerusalem in 2005, and depicts a protester masked man throwing a bouquet of flowers. This comes after “Banksy” had filed an application from the European Union to make this drawing a trademark in 2014.

But in 2018, the hostile card maker, “Full Color Black”, who wanted to use the graphic in their products, protested this decision, saying that “Banksy” had filed the request in “bad faith”, that is, without having the intention to use it in products or services. According to the agency «Agence France Presse».
The European Union Intellectual Property Office said in its decision that “it is clear that” Banksy “when he applied did not intend to use the work to market goods or provide services.” And the text of the decision added: “The problem posed by Banksy’s rights to the work of + Rami Al-Zuhoor + is clear: protecting his intellectual property rights obliges him to refrain from keeping his identity secret, thereby it will harm as an artist … so he cannot be considered the owner of these works “.
Last year, Banksy set up a makeshift store in London in order to answer questions related to this dispute about his proof that he uses the trademark, while the European authorities considered that this initiative on the contrary reinforces the arguments of the complainant.
Thus, the European office annulled the registered trademark and ordered “Banksy” and his lawyer to cover the costs of the legal procedures derived from “Full Color Black”, so the British street artist had two months to appeal the decision.