No Need to Drop the Chupa, Court Tells Lollipop Maker

Chupa Chups, a lollipop and candy company based in Spain, can’t stop a San Antonio-based company from distributing Mexican-made cone-shaped suckers under the name Chupa Gurts, a federal appeals court has ruled.

A federal judge had barred Guadalajara Inc., doing business as Dulces Vero USA, from selling the Chupa Gurts because the name sounds too much like Chupa Chups. But the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decided the word “chupa,” which means lollipop in Spanish, was too common a term for trademark protection.

“If we permit Chupa Chups to monopolize the term ‘chupa,’ we will impede other Mexican candy makers’ ability to compete effectively in the U.S. lollipop market,” wrote Judge Fortunato P. Benavides for the three-judge panel.

“Now we’re free to distribute the Chupa Gurts in the United States,” said Chester Makowski of San Antonio, a lawyer for Dulces Vero USA. John Filosa of Chicago, a lawyer for Chupa Chups, declined to comment.

Chupa Chups once commissioned surrealist artist Salvador Dali to design its logo.