The news has recently been published that Real Madrid footballer Vinicius Jr. had won a legal battle against the owner of a Spanish trademark that reproduced his surname.
The case dates back to 2022 when the player filed a lawsuit to invalidate trademark No. M3743307(5) – VINICIUS in Spain before Commercial Court No. 1 of A Coruña, which, on 13 June 2023, issued a ruling upholding the claim and declaring the aforementioned Spanish trademark registration invalid.
This decision was appealed before the Provincial Court of A Coruña, which in June 2024, issued a ruling confirming the invalidity of the trademark in Spain No. M3743307 VINICIUS for products in class 25.
The court confirmed the bad faith in the conduct of the applicant for the cancelled trademark, with the sole intention of undermining the interests of the footballer, without any real intention of using it and with the sole purpose of blocking its commercial exploitation by the Brazilian star.
To reach this conclusion, the Court notes that, on the date of application for the contested trademark, 12 November 2018, Vinicius was already a well-known player in Spain, especially after his million-dollar signing for Real Madrid, and that the defendant’s arguments regarding the reasons that led him to register the trademark ‘VINICIUS’ cannot be accepted.
The Court also refers to the ruling of the General Court of the EU in a previous case that also received media attention due to the prominence of its protagonist, none other than ‘Neymar’.
Noelia Gutiérrez
Trademark Lawyer
