Banksy's trademark on his well-known image of an ape has been challenged for months. A European Union appeals court has overturned a decision by the EU's Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) declaring the infamous British artist's EU trademark on the spray painted monkey "invalid in its entirety."
The saga began in November 2019, when the greeting card company Full Colour Black filed a formal opposition to the trademark, claiming that it was filed in "bad faith" and that the work was not distinctive. Pest Control, Banksy's authenticating body since 2008, filed a trademark for the image in 2018, which was later registered in June the following year.
Perhaps the most important aspect of the victory is that Banksy can continue to be mysterious. A previous dispute over Banksy's "Flower Thrower" copyright determined that "if Banksy could not be identified as the 'unquestionable owner' of his graffiti, as his identity is a secret, 'it further cannot be established without question that the artist holds any copyrights to a graffiti."
"This is a significant victory for Banksy, or, more precisely, Pest Control Office Limited, because it allows Banksy to conceal his identity."
"The fact that [Banksy] has said twice that 'copyright is for losers' should have no bearing on the validity of his trademark registration."
Full Colour Black's case hinged on their contention that Pest Control registered the trademark with no intention of using it.
Banksy's monkey first appeared on the wall of a Brighton nightclub in 2002, with a sandwich board around its neck reading "Laugh now, but one day we'll be in charge." Since then, the image has appeared in a number of Banksy works, one of which sold for $2.9 million at Sotheby's during their Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale in London in June 2021.