Puigdemont stops Marbella company's use of the 'Pig Demont' trade mark and logo

A company in Marbella has been told by the Spanish Patents and Trademarks Office it may not use the trademark 'Pig Demont', with its logo of a pig wearing spectacles and with abundant dark hair which bears a striking resemblance to Carle Puigdemont, the former president of the Generalitat of Catalonia.

The company, which sells Andalusian foods online, was reported by Puigdemont's lawyer, Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas, who said both the name and the caricature were offensive and that they had not been given permission to use them.

The Patents and Trademarks Office decided the use of the name and logo was against the law, public order and good custom, because it alludes in an offensive manner to a former president of an autonomous community and part of society could object to it.

The business owner, Alberto López, says he has received insults and threats since the case appeared in the media and is upset by what has happened. He is appealing against the suspension of use of the brand name and logo.

He denies the claim that he has copied the image and name of Carle Puigdemont, although he admits that "there obviously is a similarity," but insisted that he has never said it was meant to be the Catalan ex-president.

According to López, the pig's name comes from the French 'du mont', meaning 'of the mountain'. "Puigdemont doesn't have the monopoly on that type of hairstyle; the logo isn't meant to be him. If he thinks a caricature of a pig looks like him, that's his problem more than mine," he said.