EU General Court confirms OSHO Trademark of OSHO International Foundation
Twenty seven years after his departure, the contemporary mystic Osho, know through his many books and world-wide-known meditations, made again history, this time in a European court, the highest court of the European Union.
The General Court of the European Union (EGC) decided on 11. October 2017 in an unusually detailed decision about the validity of the trademark ‘OSHO’ in favor of the trademark owner Osho International Foundation which is pleased to announce that the General Court of the European Union has now confirmed that “OSHO” is a trademark owned by OSHO International Foundation in the territory of the European Union and its 28 member states.
After a seven-year-long case, the Foundation has successfully defended the mark for all entities working in collaboration with the Foundation, hundreds of OSHO Meditation Centers, many international publishers, entities and individuals supporting Osho’s proposal and vision.
The court’s ruling confirmed the trademark under which the Foundation operates since 1990, strongly confirmed two previous decisions of the European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in first instance and an Appeal No. R199712014-4 that “the [Foundation] operates under the name of OSHO, explicitly aims at promoting the lifework and visions of OSHO and consequently brands all its activities under this mark.” This final decision explicitly prevents now anyone from attempting to exploit the worldwide recognition of OSHO as a way of publicizing his or her own personal agendas, ideas, or offerings under the brand-name OSHO.
With this, the foundation was confirmed as the guardian and source for Osho’s work that is carried out and shared by many who contribute to the proposal as Osho has laid it out, also confirmed was that the name OSHO is not in the public domain, not available for personal or commercial use by people who feel inspired by Osho. The mark was confirmed as “distinctive” to identify goods and services as originating from a particular source, in this case Osho International Foundation. Osho had assigned and directed that the guardianship of his intellectual property, including copyrights, trademarks and personality rights are with the Foundation.
The foundation is particularly happy to know that Osho’s specific request to ensure that his name and work were protected in law exactly as his previous name had been protected – since 1978! In making this request, Osho specifically warned that without the protection provided by law, people would try and include all kinds of nonsense under the umbrella of his name.
The three judges of Europe’s highest court confirmed and agreed in every single point with the previous confirming decisions of the European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).
OSHO International Foundation is delighted to be able to continue to support Osho’s specific guidance to “Keep the message pure, twenty-four carat gold.”
Contact: Osho International Foundation, oshointernational@oshointernational.com
