To prevent the name of Frida Marina, the rescue dog that became a symbol of last year’s earthquake in Mexico City, from being used for the commercialization of products, the Secretary of the Navy (Semar) requested the Mexican Institute of Intellectual Property (IMPI) to register it as the property of Semar.
The agency was asked to cancel the petition of the Brewing Association of the Mexican Republic, which promoted a registration with the name to be used in beer, clothing and footwear sales.
In the file with folio 1953576, the Semar requested on October 2, 2017 to be the owner of the name of the Labrador member of the Canine Unit, and prevent the granting of the rights of the brand to the Brewing Association of the Mexican Republic, that on September 25 of last year, that is, six days after the September 19 earthquake, they requested the Frida Marina brand before the IMPI. They added a photograph of the canine as a symbol.
Antitamouring amulets of the rescue animal were sold last year, after the September earthquakes, at the Sonora Market in Mexico City.
Given this, Semar asked the IMPI not to grant the rights, because it assured that the Frida Marina brand and its design reproduced a symbol of a State institution, which was prohibited in section VII of Article 90 of the Industrial Property Law, which prevents the registration of symbols or denominations that imitate those of governmental organizations.
“We can affirm that the rescue dog Frida and / or Frida Marina is a symbol of Semar, since her work in the service of this dependence has been widely disseminated by national and international media, as well as in social networks, in such a way that the public identifies it as an emblem of said institution, especially for the rescue work in which it collaborated in the earthquake of September 19, as well as in other countries,” they argued.
Semar also argued that the request made by the beer entrepreneurs “deceived or induced” the error to the consuming public, because it made believe that the Semar had granted their consent and license for the distribution, sale, and reproduction of a symbol of that institution “Which is false and non-existent, so their records should be denied.”
“Frida the rescue dog cannot be associated with the consumption of alcohol or commercial activities of a third party, because it would result in harm to children, as well as the image of the institution,” they said.
Based on these arguments, on February 20 the IMPI decided to grant Semar the trademark registration of Frida Marina.
Semar affirmed that Frida became a symbol of dependency.
Frida has been involved in search and rescue in various countries since 2010. In total, the dog has been able to locate 53 people, 12 of them alive. The rescue dog is part of a group of 270 trained dogs that exist throughout the Mexican Republic that belong to Semar.
Federal agency sources informed that Frida has not had any change in her behavior, after the national and international recognition that she reached after her participation in the September earthquakes and dedicates most of the day to training and to relax to continue helping in the search and rescue techniques in emergency situations.
Semar said that the dog, which has been in service for eight years, has daily routines for training, breaks, and visits to the vet.
