Banksy might have to drop anonymity in face of trademark law

In the past 10 month, the European Union Intellectual Property Office has cancelled the trademarks of Banksy's six works: Laugh Now, Radar Girl, Girl with an Umbrella, Love Rat Graffiti, Bomb Hugger and Flower Thrower.

Graffiti card company Full Colour Black Ltd. is the company behind the invalidity claim against the trademark for five of the anonymous street artist's works except for Flower Thrower. Banksy first filed European Union trademark (EUTM) in 2018 for Laugh Now, and an invalidation was filed in 2019 on the grounds of bad faith. EUIPO then declared that not only one, but also five of these artworks of Banksy's are grounded on bad faith.

As it is found that all five cases are on the grounds of bad faith, EUIPO considered that Banksy does not have a genuine intention to use the mark for trading. Based on this, copyright enforcement cannot follow up with this case unless Banksy discloses his identity.

Several other factors also came into play in terms of putting Banksy in a bad position, including:

• The artworks are made on public properties instead of his own,

• In his contempt for intellectual property, he stated in 2006 that “copyright is for losers” even though this stance does not annul his rights to obtain one,

• He had allowed the public to download and use his artworks for non-commercial use,

• Banksy acknowledged third parties using his artworks without his consent on his website, but did not pursue legal action.

Anonymity has always been an important part of Banksy's career as a world-renowned street artist. One of the works in discussion, Girl with A Balloon, was sold on auction for almost $2 million at Sotheby's. Right in the middle of the crowd, it was then shredded right after and renamed Love In The Bin.