The lawyer using Los Iberos as his personal brand

The Los Iberos brand and the lawyer who calls himself a founder

What happens when someone uses a historic music brand to project an image that does not belong to them? The case of Marcos García Montes, a lawyer and member of Los Iberos since late 2016, has ended up before the Spanish Trademark Office. The complaint came from a relative of an original member of the group, formed in the 1960s. The complaint was twofold: García Montes presented himself in the media as a founder and pioneer of pop, and he also used the brand in press releases about matters unrelated to music, such as the high-profile Daniel Sancho case.

The registry's response has left a residue of bewilderment. According to the complaint, the Office considered that naming the brand in that context is "advertising", and that, although the statements may be misleading, the good faith of the person making them is presumed. The presumption of good faith, a classic wildcard of the Spanish registration system, was applied here to the sharp operator, not to the injured party.

The conflict of interest nobody wants to see

The matter is not only about property rights. It has also been raised that García Montes acts as lawyer for the brand's owner in a conflict he himself would have generated. An alleged conflict of interest that, it is argued, the professional bar association would turn a blind eye to. The brand, also registered by other members, was thus subordinated to the personal strategy of a lawyer who joined the group less than a decade ago and claims half a century of history.

An epilogue measured in visits

The claimant quantifies the impact of the aforementioned case at 500,000 visits: the media noise turns the brand into a complement to communication strategies that have nothing to do with music. As a final irony, the system that exists to protect industrial property has ended up giving cover to whoever gains the most publicity. Self-promotion, it seems, can also claim good faith.