In a monumental court case, the E.U. has overruled a decision pronouncing Banksy’s trademark on his spray-painted apes “invalid in its entirety,” allowing the international art icon and activist to maintain his anonymity.
On November 16th, the European Union’s Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) issued its ruling on a months-long trademark dispute: renowned British street artist and political activist Banksy is allowed to keep his trademark over his series of spray painted apes after being challenged by the greeting card company Full Colour Black. These apes are a common motif in Banksy’s body of work, first appearing on a nightclub wall in 2002 (see image above) and even selling as a spray-paint art piece for $2.9 million in a 2021 Sotheby’s auction. The trademark dispute began in November of 2019, when Full Colour Black filed a claim asserting that Banksy’s trademark on these works was “in bad faith” because the art is not distinctive.
The EUIPO’s decision is extremely monumental—should Banksy have lost, he may have been forced to forfeit his anonymity to keep his trademark. Though EUIPO initially noted that because Banksy’s works are “disseminated widely” they are free to reproduce, they eventually ruled that Full Colour Black failed to provide justification for the trademark’s cancellation. The company is now required to compensate Banksy for all costs of the proceedings.
Since the ruling, Banksy has spoken out against the clothing retailer Guess for allegedly using his designs without his expressed consent; the artist even encouraged shoplifting of Guess stores in an Instagram post, justifying his message with the claim “they’ve helped themselves to my artwork without asking, how can it be wrong for you to do the same to their clothes?” If Banksy were to bring a legal challenge against Guess, however, he may once again risk losing his anonymity. This crucial aspect of his identity as an artist and activist is paramount not only as means of protection against prosecution for graffiti but also as a means of forcing his audience to grapple with the message of his work rather than be influenced by his biography.
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