Erling Prevailed Against High Advanced Activity Land

The European Union Intellectual Property Office, EUIPO, recently ruled in an invalidity case concerning the trademark HAALAND. In the case, Erling Haaland had requested the invalidity of the mark HAALAND, which had been filed by a Polish applicant. The Norwegian goal machine argued that the application had been filed in bad faith and that the applicant was simply trying to profit from the player's name and reputation.

The applicant denied having filed the mark in bad faith and claimed he simply did not know who Erling Haaland was. He also argued that the HAA element of his mark was an abbreviation for "High Advanced Activity", and that he had ambitious plans to build a business empire under that name.

In cases based on the legal ground that a trademark was filed in bad faith, the party seeking invalidity may need to demonstrate that the applicant was aware of the existence of a prior right. In this case, Haaland could not point to his own registered trademarks, as he had not registered his name as a mark, and therefore had to prove that the applicant was aware of his existence at the date of filing.

Haaland relied in no small part on what he considered his indissoluble connection to Polish striker Robert Lewandowski. For those unfamiliar: Lewandowski is one of the highest-scoring players in the history of football, currently playing for Barcelona, and arguably the most popular and celebrated athlete in Polish history. Haaland pointed out that Lewandowski is a national hero in Poland and submitted numerous articles from Polish media containing comparisons between Lewandowski and Haaland, in terms of performance, titles, and above all goal tallies. He argued this demonstrated conclusively that the applicant, a Polish national, could not have been unaware of who he was.

EUIPO agreed with Haaland and found it clear that the Polish applicant had acted in bad faith. He could not hide behind the fact that Erling Haaland played in the English Premier League and was from Norway, two markets outside the European Union, and the Board also accepted Haaland's argument regarding his connection to the Polish market through Lewandowski:

"Considering Robert Lewandowski's renown in Poland, it goes without saying that his (sporting) endeavours and achievements receive significant national press attention. If the applicant has been consistently (i.e. not once, but on several occasions) mentioned in Polish press coverage of Robert Lewandowski, it is unimaginable that the EUTM proprietor was unaware of the applicant's name and fame."

The registration was accordingly declared invalid on the ground that the applicant had demonstrably acted in bad faith. The real winner, however, may well be Robert Lewandowski, who received a free assessment of his own greatness in the process.