In a Threat to Banksy’s Empire, an EU Court Rules That He Can’t Hold Trademarks While His Identity Remains a Mystery

The ruling against the anonymous artist came in the midst of a bitter legal battle between him and a greeting-card company that used one of his images. A panel of three judges from the European Union’s Intellectual Property Office has ruled against Banksy in a two-year-long trademark dispute with a greeting-card company seeking to use his iconic design of a protestor throwing a bouquet of flowers.

Setting a precedent that may put all of the guerilla artist’s trademarks in jeopardy, the panel ruled that because his identity remains a mystery, he can’t claim copyrights to his works.