It is one of the most recognised images in the world — the Pope, hand held aloft in blessing. Increasingly, however, the Pope’s name or image is found in less traditional contexts — from soap products and snowstorms to endorsing tomato paste. In a move to control this growing use or misuse of the papal brand, the Holy See has announced that in future anyone wanting to use the face or name of the Holy Father or Supreme Pontiff must obtain Vatican approval.
Robin Fry, a copyright lawyer from the London firm Beachcrofts, said: “Popes throughout history have been plagued by their image being reproduced, whether as little trinkets, or, recently, mechanical dolls. There has even been a Pope soap on a rope. But like any other business, the Vatican needed a clear intellectual property programme so that it may control uses of its key expressions — not for commercial purposes, but simply to retain the integrity of the words.
"This declaration is a brave attempt to control use of the imprimatur and image of His Holy Father, but this can only realistically be done through registration of trademarks.
“Without this, the Vatican’s jurisdiction extends legally only to the 110 acres of the Vatican City and any new laws it announces cannot be enforced elsewhere, unless other countries adopt the same rules."
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There are only a handful of relevant trademarks but none had been registered by the Vatican: they include Holy See, Pontiff, The Vatican and the Pope.
An application for “Pope Benedict pretzel” was refused as a European mark in 2006. But the Pope Food Group in New Jersey had a registration for “Pope” for tomato paste and there was an European Community trade mark for “Cuvee du Vatican”, a wine from Chateauneuf-du-Pape or Cotes du Rhone.
As far as monitoring was concerned, all it needed to do was to set up an enforcement or monitoring body. “Then if someone stepped out of line and the normal religious and spiritual pressures don’t operate effectively then at the end of the day, lawyers can step in and take action,” said Mr Fry.
The Vatican’s declaration says: “Recent years have witnessed a great increase of affection and esteem for the person of the Holy Father.
“There has also been a desire to use the Pope’s name in the title of universities, schools or cultural institutions, as well as associations, foundations and other groups.
“In light of this fact, the Holy See hereby declares that it alone has the right to ensure the respect due to the Successors of Peter, and, therefore, to protect the figure and personal identify of the Pope from the unauthorised use of his name and/or the papal coat of arms for ends and activities which have little or nothing to do with the Catholic Church.”
Occasionally, it adds, attempts have been made to attribute credibility and authority to initiatives by using ecclesiastical or papal symbols or logos.
A spokesman for the Catholic Church in England and Wales said: “This is not about financial gain or commercial interests.
“It is simply an attempt to preserve the integrity of the Pope’s image at a time when there is a plethora of new media and there may be concern that it is used inappropriately.”
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