Comic book hero Obelix caught in European battle over weapons trademark

(CN) — Obelix spent decades throwing Romans around with his bare hands, but judges in Luxembourg balked Wednesday at seeing the famous comic-book strongman’s name attached to rifles, grenades and military hardware.

French publisher Les Éditions Albert René, steward of the hugely successful “Asterix & Obelix” franchise, went to Europe’s trademark authorities to block a Polish company from registering “Obelix” for firearms and tactical equipment.

The publisher argued the registration leaned heavily on one of Europe’s most recognizable comic-book characters: the red-braided, wild-boar-devouring Obelix, created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. Since debuting in 1959, the “Asterix” comics about a tiny Gallic village humiliating the Roman Empire have grown into a global franchise with hundreds of millions of books sold, blockbuster films, video games, Netflix adaptations and a massive fan base across Europe, along with a loyal cult following in the United States.

In 2024, the European Union Intellectual Property Office, EUIPO, sided with the Polish company, saying there was not enough proof that “Obelix” alone carried the kind of standalone trademark reputation needed to cancel the registration. Officials also doubted buyers shopping for military gear would connect assault weapons and artillery equipment to a comic-book character.

The General Court of the European Union said that view was far too cramped.

Judges faulted EUIPO for treating the gap between comics and firearms almost as the end of the analysis while overlooking evidence suggesting consumers could still associate the weapons brand with the famous character name.

Among the evidence were products displaying “Obelix” with its own registered trademark symbol, separate from “Asterix.”

“Accordingly, for the relevant public which will purchase those goods, the presence of the ‘®’ symbol will indicate that the term ‘Obelix’ is a registered trademark,” the court wrote.

Judges also rejected EUIPO’s tendency to treat “Asterix & Obelix” as one inseparable label rather than two potentially distinct brands. “There is no precept in the EU trademark system that obliges the applicant to prove the use of its earlier mark on its own, independently of any other mark,” the court said.

That mattered because much of the publisher’s evidence came from the sprawling “Asterix & Obelix” universe itself, including films, merchandise, licensing deals and promotional material built around the famous duo together. EUIPO had largely brushed that aside, arguing the popularity of the comics did not automatically prove “Obelix” alone functioned as a protected commercial brand.

The court said trademark officials also put too much weight on the fact that comic books and military hardware occupy completely different commercial worlds while failing to properly assess how distinctive and recognizable the “Obelix” name may already be across Europe.

“Consequently, as EUIPO also acknowledged at the hearing, the Board of Appeal was incorrect to focus solely on the difference between the goods and services in question and the absence of any overlap between the relevant publics,” the judgment said.

The judges stopped short of pulling the trigger on the trademark itself. Instead, they blew up EUIPO’s earlier decision and sent the case back for another pass, this time with much stricter instructions on how to weigh the fame and distinctiveness of the “Obelix” name.

Representatives for Les Éditions Albert René, the Polish weapons company and the European Union Intellectual Property Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The fight is not necessarily over yet. The ruling can still be appealed to the Court of Justice of the European Union within two months and 10 days on legal grounds, but for now the Polish company’s “Obelix” weapons trademark heads back into Europe’s trademark system with far shakier footing than before.

Courthouse News reporter Eunseo Hong is based in the Netherlands.