this post was submitted on 21 Sep 2024
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Family’s ordeal after son, whose name is inspired by Star Wars, refused passport due to copyright issues (www.suffolknews.co.uk)
submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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A family have spoken of their ordeal after their seven-year-old son, whose middle name is inspired by the Star Wars films, was refused a passport due to copyright issues.

Christian Mowbray, 48, is a serving soldier in The Corps of Royal Engineers at the Rock Barracks in Sutton Heath, near Woodbridge.

He and his wife Becky, a former serving soldier, booked a holiday to the Dominican Republic at the end of October, the family’s first since 2014 due to their demanding work schedules and Becky’s struggles with Complex PTSD.

However, when they tried to secure a passport for their youngest child, Loki Skywalker Mowbray, the Home Office refused it on copyright grounds, telling the family to either change his name or get permission from the copyright owner, Disney.

...

The family then confirmed that, on Friday, the Home Office would be issuing a passport.

Before this, when SuffolkNews approached it for comment, it said the family’s application was ‘being processed’ and apologised for the delay. It then later confirmed it had approved the application.

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[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Uh, wouldn't that primarily be trademark? A name by itself shouldn't trigger that

[–] [email protected] 49 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (3 children)

Even trademark shouldn't apply, as this is a child name, not a mark he uses for trade, I.e a company name or product. No one is going to confuse a kid not selling anything to a corporation competing with Disney.

This was someone at the UK passport office fucking up. Wonder if the EU would have made the same mistake.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

This was someone at the UK passport office fucking up.

As I said in the previous discussion, I have known a few people at the Passport Office and they often mess with the passports of celebrities, so I wondered whether they decided to "punish" the parents of kids with such names. This convinces me they are. The trademark excuse is just a figleaf for their dickery.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The EU doesn't deliver passports. It depends on the country you're in.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

They are not called passports as the EU is not a country, but it is pretty close:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_laissez-passer

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I didn't know about those. I wonder where and why one would get one given that a "standard passport for your country does the same.

In France everybody uses the national passport when going abroad, and no EU agency is involved in getting one.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

It is used only as a diplomatic passport for EU representatives. Unlike with a normal French passport, you get diplomatic immunity, to walk through border checkpoints without being searched and so forth.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 month ago

Not really a fuck-up per se. Probably no HEO available and they erred on the side of caution. Type “Skywalker” into this UK government site: https://www.gov.uk/search-for-trademark