“La Mafia” no longer sits at the table: why Spain says stop to the brand that trivializes crime

Italy wins another battle against those who use the word Mafia as a brand. This is not the first case. Some may remember the Corleone restaurant in Paris. Or the case of Don Panino in Vienna. This time, it is the Spanish office of trademarks and patents (OEPM) that has declared that the name of the Madrid restaurant “La Mafia se sienta a la mesa” is “contrary to public order and good morals” and declares it null and void. This is not an aesthetic detail: it is the very idea that a criminal organization can be transformed into a brand that comes under scrutiny. And it is not just a state claiming respect that wins: it is a legal notion – “public order and morals” – that becomes central in the Europe of trademarks and commercial communication.

What happened, briefly

The OEPM has accepted Italy's request and declared the trademark null in Spain: the name directly reproduces “that of a real criminal organization,” promoting a normalized image of it. The company can still file an administrative appeal. 

The Spanish ruling fits into the path opened in 2018 by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the European Union Court (case T‑1/17), which had already rejected the trademark at the EU level for being contrary to public order. The Italian Embassy in Madrid has played a constant political-diplomatic role, arguing that the name trivializes organized crime and the efforts to combat it.

A legal case that dates back a long way

The long wave of this affair begins well before the Spanish decision. In 2015, at Italy's initiative, the EUIPO initiates a procedure to invalidate the European version of the trademark. On March 3, 2016, the EUIPO Board of Appeals confirms the illegality of the sign; the dispute reaches the EU Court, which, in a ruling on March 15, 2018, rejects the appeal of the trademark holder, stating that the trademark “conveys an overall positive image of the mafia” and can “scandalize the victims” and the European public with a “medium sensitivity.” It is not a matter of taste: for the judges, the convivial evocation of “sitting at the table” ends up trivializing extortion, violence, corruption, and murders, that is, facts that undermine the foundations of democratic coexistence.

This principle – contrary to "public order" or "good morals" – is found in article 7  of the EU trademark regulation and has been gradually clarified in light of other cases (such as "Fack Ju Göhte" regarding vulgarity). The boundary is not about propriety, but the protection of fundamental values; the analysis is "objective" and refers to the social and temporal context. The case "La Mafia" has become, in manuals and European guidelines, a jurisprudential reference.

The turning point in Spain: what the OEPM decision says

We thus arrive at the decision of the OEPM. According to reports from various Spanish and international media, the office has accepted the request made by the Italian embassy and has determined that the name: "Directly reproduces the name of a real criminal organization", not a literary or cinematic phenomenon; it is "contrary to both public order and good morals", as it is likely to normalize or trivialize criminal activities such as drug trafficking, extortion, money laundering, corruption, and murders; it cannot take refuge in the cultural use of the term "mafia" in audiovisual or literary contexts, because the concrete social impact in Spain and Europe remains that of a real and operating organization.

A not insignificant procedural detail: since January 14, 2023, Spanish legislation has directly assigned to the OEPM the competence to handle administrative actions of nullity and expiration of trademarks, with subsequent appeals before the competent courts of appeal. This explains the centrality of the office at this stage and the likely subsequent steps in the appeal process.

Is it over? The next moves

The company that owns the trademark has described the decision as "unprecedented in Spain", clarified that the resolution "is not yet final", and announced that it is considering an appeal. In parallel, the group – which in 2025 will celebrate its 25 years of activity – reports that it has already initiated a strategic reflection, with the hypothesis of a rebranding under consideration "for over a year". In the meantime, it claims registrations and renewals obtained "in over two decades" at the national level.