BAD TORO, A CONTROVED BRAND

This post is also available in: Español

Lately we have talked to you often about the BadFriends souvenir shop. It is a different souvenirs and gifts online store that bases its designs on a set of characters, the Bad Friends. The Bad Friends Gang consists of four characters: Bad Elk, Bad Bulldog, Bad Xolo and Bad Toro.

Of all of them, Bad Toro was the first to be created by his designer Jordi Nogués. And, since its inception, as the brand’s first emblem, the bull logo designed by Nogués has had a rather hard history.

Bad Toro, a much discussed brand

Presenting a brand with the bull logo in our country is an adventure. Not only is it a cultural icon in itself. In addition there are large companies that consider it their property. Since its creation, Bad Toro has spent a lot of time in court.

In 2010, the EU Intellectual Property Office rejected its registration as a European brand due to the opposition of the Osborne Group. They considered that the image and the name Bad Toro were very similar to the images and words registered in their brands “Toro” and “El Toro”, linked to Osborne for 60 years.

The Osborne Group claimed that since they sold the same kind of products (clothing, caps, smoking articles, etc.), the semblance between their brands and the bull logo of Jordi Nogués could lead to confusion.

The creator filed an appeal in 2010 and, two years later, in 2012 the EUIPO partially proved it right.

But finally, five more years of resources, led in 2017, the EU Court of Justice determined that the EU Intellectual Property Office had erred in its assessment of the case. They determined that in the “Bad Toro” brand the bull forms a logical unit away from the animal mentioned and represented in the Osborne brands. In addition, they added that on a visual level, the similarities were scarce, since the Bad Toro de Nogués is more similar to a pet or even a humanized character.

Red Bull also joins the party … of the bull logo

Osborne was not the only company that worried about the emergence of the new bull logo. With the internationalization of the brand, Bad Toro also had problems, in this case with Red Bull GmbH.

The registration of the trademark in the United States began in 2012 at the United States Patent And Trademark Office and was formalized in 2014. But after the appeals filed by Red Bull GmbH and various trials, in 2017, finally the Brand registration was canceled in the country. This battle was lost by the first of the Bad Friends.

Well, this has been a bit of brand history. Anyway, if you want to buy the most original gifts in the best souvenir shop, you know that BadFriends is at your disposal.