The Room Specialized in Intellectual Property (SPI) of Indecopi declared -in the second and final administrative instance- unfounded the appeal filed by Cesar Acuna and confirmed that Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial SA and the journalist Christopher Acosta did not infringe the industrial property rights of the brand “Silver like court and logo”, nor did they carry out acts of unfair competition.
Through Resolution No. 290-2022/TPI-INDECOPI of February 28, 2022, the court confirmed in all its aspects the pronouncement issued, on June 21, 2021, in the first instance by the Commission of Distinctive Signs of Indecopi .
Among other aspects, it was concluded that those denounced “are dedicated to providing different services” to those of class 35 of the Official Nomenclature for the registration of trademarks, for which the leader of the Alliance for Progress (APP) has registered his trademark “Silver like court and logo”.
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It should be remembered that class 35 includes brands that provide advertising services, commercial administration, commercial business management and office work.
Another point of the resolution indicates that “none of the services mentioned in the complaint has been identified with the Acuña Peralta brand”, which, as he points out, was not used by those accused as a brand, but rather constitutes the title of a journalistic investigative book.
In addition, it was arranged that César Acuña assume the payment of “fees and costs” incurred in this process by Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial SA and Christopher Acosta.
Judicial process
Last January, Judge Jesús Vega sentenced journalists Christopher Acosta and Jerónimo Pimentel to two years in suspended prison and the payment of 400,000 soles in civil damages in favor of César Acuña for allegedly having defamed him in the book “Plata como cancha”.
Consequently, both Acosta and Pimentel appealed this decision before a higher instance, since they consider that it is a resolution that violates fundamental rights, such as freedom of expression and of the press.
