Vulgar and offensive: Pico may not register trademark in Chile
Pico is not allowed to register its own trademark in Chile. According to the authorities, the company's name has an inappropriate, vulgar meaning.
Chinese VR headset maker Pico is having trouble gaining a foothold in South America. The National Institute of Industrial Property (Inapi) has rejected the company's trademark application.
In Spanish-speaking Chile, the name “Pico” has a vulgar meaning and as a term is “derived from the name of the male genitalia,” the institute said.
“Pico” is inappropriate and offensive in Chile
According to Chilean media, on March 6, Pico Technology's trademark application was deemed “offensive” and inappropriate for a trademark due to the vulgar meaning of the name, and was officially rejected. The authorities have so far refused to budge, rejecting all of Pico's arguments.
Among other things, Pico Technology's lawyers tried to explain that the company was from abroad and may not have been aware of the meaning of the name. In addition, the word “Pico” was not used in its “usual meaning” in the application, and the application was for the trademark as a whole, including the logo.
Next setback for Pico
The Chinese virtual reality company has been trying to challenge competitor Meta's place at the top of VR since at least the launch of the Pico 4. So far, however, Pico's VR headsets are only available in Asia and a few European countries.
The denial of a trademark application in Chile is the latest setback for Pico's expansion plans. Recently, the launch in the US of the Pico 4 was cancelled at the last minute. According to US media reports, the reason for the withdrawal was a political hearing held by Pico's Chinese parent company, ByteDance. Its social media app TikTok is facing a ban in the US. Politicians suspect the operators of sharing user data with the Chinese government and using the platform for propaganda purposes.
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