Argentine Justice ordered that Matías Morla, Diego Maradona’s attorney, stop using the trademarks that allude to the deceased ex-footballer, within the framework of a case initiated against him by the star’s daughters, sources related to the case confirmed this Wednesday to Efe .
Through a precautionary measure, Judge Alejandra Provitola decided to paralyze the use of the trademarks that allude to Maradona – all owned by the company Sattvica, created by Morla – after the Prosecutor’s Office noted that this company made “a total of 147 requests for records of trademarks related to Maradona (name, pseudonyms and image) before the National Institute of Intellectual Property (INPI) ».
This occurred despite the fact that the player had already died and there were open legal proceedings with the heirs.
The case was opened after the complaint filed by the player’s daughters Gianinna and Dalma Maradona, who accuse Morla of alleged fraud.
“The 147 trademarks were ratifications of previous ones that have been requested since December”, as “demands of the INPI”, Mauricio D’Alessandro, attorney for the attorney, told Efe, who announced that he has appealed the judge’s measure.
“The ban is for Sattvica,” said D`Alessandro and recalled that “the only one that has the marks (of Maradona) inscribed is Sattvica.”
The judge had already ordered the registration of the Morla law firm and the prohibition of the Sattvica brand. Meanwhile, last March a precautionary measure considered not to innovate in the brands already registered in the INPI in favor of Sattvica.
Following the prosecutor’s opinion, the magistrate resolved “to extend the order prohibiting innovation and contracting” to all trademark applications “related to the name, pseudonyms and representation of the image of Diego Armando Maradona, in all its variants ( denominative, figurative and mixed), in particular those that are currently being processed before the INPI ”.
And that the prohibition weighs “whether or not they are in the territory of the Argentine Republic.”
The firm Sattvica SA was set up by Morla on June 11, 2015, but Maradona’s daughters have denounced that it is a “rubber stamp” to appropriate all the brands “of the soccer star and refuse to return it to its owners . EFE (HN)