The renowned multinational beauty and cosmetics brand, Carolina Herrera, sued a Peruvian businesswoman for using its name in the sale of handmade soaps. However, after a long legal battle, the woman won the case and now has the right to market her products.
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What was the legal battle over the name Carolina Herrera like?
A Peruvian businesswoman named María Carolina Herrera was involved in a battle with the well-known perfume and cosmetics brand of the same name. The multinational sued the entrepreneur for using the same name in the marketing of its products.
After a lengthy lawsuit, in which the company sought to prevent María Herrera from using its surname for sales, the Peruvian businesswoman managed to prevail and won the case. María argued that the surname Herrera is common in Peru, so “the use of someone else’s surname could not be prohibited.”
Why did Carolina Herrera sue a company?
At Christmas, María Carolina Herrera’s son surprised her with an unexpected gift: the registration of the trademark “La Jabonera by María Herrera”. However, this attempt to formalize her business caught the attention of the legal team of the renowned multinational brand Carolina Herrera, who decided to notify her for the use of the name.
Faced with this situation, María Carolina Herrera received legal support from a lawyer from the National Institute for the Defense of Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property (Indecopi) in Peru. In an interview with the Peruvian channel
Panorama
The businesswoman expressed her disappointment: “If it were for the name Carolina Herrera, I would understand. But appropriating the surname seems a little disappointing to me.”
María Carolina argued that she has had the surname Herrera since her birth in 1965, as her full name is María Carolina Herrera Herrera. Unlike the international designer, whose real name is María Carolina Josefina Pacanins Niño, and who adopted the surname Herrera in 1969 when she got married.
When the case was taken to a second instance, it was concluded that María Herrera did not use the surname with the intention of creating confusion with the multinational’s brand, nor did she use a similar design. Therefore, the court ruled in favor of the Peruvian entrepreneur, establishing that the surname “cannot be monopolized” and that her brand “La Jabonera by María Herrera” has sufficient distinctive elements to differentiate itself.
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