Foreign company, sole owner of the Frida Kahlo brand

Mexico City. Frida Kahlo's great-niece, Mara Cristina Teresa Romeo Pinedo, lost the lawsuit that she initiated four years ago against the Frida Kahlo Corporation (FKC) to prevent the commercialization of the painter's image in Mexico. The company claimed to be the exclusive owner of the Frida Kahlo brand and the worldwide rightful owner of all intellectual property rights that the most famous Mexican artist may have, when reporting its victory over a frivolous and baseless lawsuit.

© Provided by La Jornada As of the ruling in Mexico City, the Mexican artist's Barbie can now go on sale, whose cost in 2018, when the lawsuit began, ranged between 2,000 and 10,000 pesos. The Frida Kahlo Corporation argues that the brand represents "a female role model, a strong woman who encouraged the world to think differently." The image, in an exhibition in Madrid. Photo Xinhua

With this resolution, granted by a judge in Mexico City, the company can carry out any act intended to use the brand, image, signature and portrait of Frida Kahlo, the FKC said in a statement in which it also announced, with much fanfare, that the Frida Kahlo Barbie doll, produced by Mattel, which stopped selling in 2018 after the painter's descendant sued, will finally go on sale.

The corporation clarified that any company must manage the rights of use to avoid legal problems, this includes the Mexican Soccer Federation, Nestlé/Chocolate Abuelita, Frida Café, Experiencia Frida and Soomap, which in the past joined Mara Teresa Romeo Pinedo.

War of Lawsuits

In 2005, Isolda Pineda Kahlo, daughter of Cristina Kahlo (Frida's sister) and niece of the Mexican artist, sold the rights to the corporation that has retaken the name of the person who was born and lived in Casa Azul, in Coyoacán, to the side of the muralist Diego Rivera. The name, concept and distinctive signs thus became the property of a private company.

However, in 2018 the judicial process began and a war of lawsuits began. In that year, the Mattel brand launched the Barbie Frida Kahlo for sale, so Mara de Anda Romeo and Mara Cristina Teresa Romeo Pinedo, granddaughter and daughter of Isolda Pinedo Kahlo, managed to prevent the doll from being sold in Mexico.

Right now, on internet shopping sites, the famed perfectly proportioned Barbie, dressed in a long ruffled blue skirt with flowers in her dark hair and eyebrows that span across her forehead, is fetching between $2,000 and up. 10 thousand pesos.

The sentence of a civil judge of the Superior Court of Justice of Mexico City was announced on December 7 and annuls the prohibition of marketing the collectible toy in the country. The FKC published a statement dated December 8 on its website and on its social networks, which it later withdrew.

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The company Frida Kahlo Corporation defines on its website that the brand and the licensing program are inspired by the iconic Mexican artist Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón, who he gave himself passionately to life, love, family, culture, his ideology, and lived his reality with all the adversities as an opportunity to reinvent himself.

This company was founded in 2004 in Panama, according to the public registry of property in that country, and has offices in Miami, United States. It is chaired by Venezuelan businessman Carlos Dorado, who was allegedly banned by the Bank of Spain from entering the financial sector due to offshore practices, according to the newspaper El Confidencial. His name also came up in the Panama Papers for owning several exchange houses.

The foreign company that now has permission to profit from the image of the Mexican artist throughout the world argues that the brand represents a female role model, a strong woman who transcended and overcame cultural barriers, time and time. society with his unique personality, and encouraged the world to think differently. We are dedicated to educating, sharing, and preserving Frida Kahlo's art, her image, and her legacy.

Similarly, it announces the global sale of products in the United States, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, the European Union and South Korea, in addition to anticipating that they will soon be on sale in the largest Internet sales store, with direct access to a variety of items, such as bottles, notebooks, lunch boxes, calendars, cell phone accessories, mugs, a costume, bags, wallets, clothing, t-shirts, and sweatshirts.

A paradox

The artist, who expressed her pain and ideals in her paintings, who embraced the ideals of socialism and supported figures like Leon Trotsky, will now have her face and particular clothing in articles with her image in a million-dollar market.

He lived in the most passionate way. Her iconic existence, unique expression and extraordinary art left a legacy that will forever impact and influence the world regardless of age, gender, nationality and ethnicity, describes the corporation about the Mexican painter, who just last November reached the record for the The most expensive work by a Latin American artist in the world, when his painting Diego and I was auctioned for 34.9 million dollars.

In the case of the rights to the plastic and literary work of Frida Kahlo, her husband Diego Rivera set up a trust in which Banco de México was designated as responsible for copyright charges, which should be allocated to the conservation of the museums of the Blue House and the Anahuacalli Museum.

On its official Facebook page, FKC has been quick to offer some objects, accompanied by inspirational phrases that encourage you to purchase a product: Life can become difficult, but you have to persevere. If anyone knows about perseverance it is Frida Kahlo. He faced many challenges in his life, but he grew stronger each time. Face your challenges, like Frida did.

It also invites you to celebrate the most special moments in life with the essence of Frida Kahlo, together with the image of a limited edition cabernet sauvignon wine.

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