At his home on the outskirts of Lima, Peruvian Maria Carolina Herrera He created a small soap business with his name, whose trademark registration he tried to prevent – according to him – Carolina Herrera fashion house.
After a legal battle, the court ruled in favor of the artisan, who became a new David against Goliath.
María Carolina Herrera Herrera lives in the popular Lima district of Ate and, since 2021, has been making small soaps with different shapes and scents in a home workshop.
“The Soap Dish by Maria Herrera”
She started selling them to family and friends, but, to “do things right,” she wanted to register her business with the name “La Jabonera by María Herrera.”
“When I wanted to register my trademark, the (National Institute for the Defense of Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property) Indecopi accepted my registration, but then they told us no, that we couldn’t register it because Carolina Herrera, or her lawyers, had filed a complaint that this trademark could create confusion with her last name,” she tells EFE.
The legal battle
The TV show Panoramawhich initially broke the story, detailed that the company Carolina Herrera ltd, through the Barreda Moler law firmspecialized in intellectual property, filed the lawsuit.
According to InfobaeThey argued that the name ‘Carolina Herrera’ was already linked to class 3 products in the official nomenclature, which includes whitening preparations, non-medicated soaps and perfumery products.
The international fashion house said the use of this name in a soap business could lead to confusion among consumers.
So, the defense of the so-called “Peruvian Carolina Herrera” had to prove “who came first,” according to Panoramawhich showed that Indecopi finally ruled in favor of the Lima company.
Photo: Reuters
“We appealed and sent the documents again with other arguments and they now ruled in our favor,” says Peruvian Herrera.
As she proudly shows off her small soaps shaped like teddy bears, angels and butterflies and which smell of passion fruit, cinnamon or chamomile, María explains that, as a precaution and despite being called Carolina Herrera, she did not use this name for her business to avoid problems.
“I like my last name and I like the way María Herrera sounds, I love it (…) and I think it’s a bit unfair that they told me ‘look, no, María Herrera, no’,” she said.
She added that, thanks to the fact that her son is a lawyer, she was able to start the process, “fight and win,” which she defines as “gratifying,” but she thinks that many other people do not have the resources to start a “long and expensive” process.
“My son is a lawyer and he has gone through the entire appeals process, but imagine a person who wants to start a business with the surname Herrera, he will not be able to do so,” he laments.
‘Peruvian Carolina Herrera’ takes advantage of popularity to help homeless dogs
This victory has encouraged her to continue making orders for these soaps, which Peruvians traditionally give as gifts on religious holidays, baby showers or other occasions, and which her daughter helps her sell on social media.
Since her case has been covered in some local media, she is happy with all the support she has received in recent days and says that people have been very happy for her.
A popularity that he intends to take advantage of to promote one of his passions: caring for stray dogs that abound in the poorest districts of Peru.
Maria rescues them and takes them to the vet to be sterilized. and thus be able to give them in adoptionsomething that he will be able to do more often thanks to the strength of his name
A parallel passion that the “Peruvian Carolina Herrera” will be able to develop if the success of her sails continues to go from strength to strength. (EFE)
