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Swiss ban 'Bin Ladin' trademark

The Swiss objected to a trademark name registered by a relative of the terror leader

GENEVA, Switzerland -- Switzerland has banned a family-name trademark registered by a half-brother of Osama bin Laden amid fears it could cause offence.

The government revoked the trademark "Bin Ladin," owned by Yeslam Binladin, one of the al-Qaeda leader's 54 siblings.

He registered it on August 16 last year for one of his Swiss companies, Falcon Sporting Goods.

But on Thursday the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property said the September 11 terror attacks in the United States had "put a completely different light" on the issue.

Osama bin Laden's terror group is held responsible for the attacks and Swiss copyright law has a provision that excludes protection for trademarks which "go against accepted moral standards."

Binladin, who has lived in Switzerland since 1985 and intentionally spells his name differently from his brother, claimed he only registered the trademark to stop other people using the name.

Binladin told a Swiss newspaper that he had no plans to make commercial gain from it and that he simply wanted to prevent anyone using the name in bad taste.

He denied reports that he was planning to launch a "Bin Ladin" clothing label.

Juerg Brand, a lawyer working for Binladin, told the Wall Street Journal: "The name is one of the most famous names in the world.

"We think that people are able to distinguish between Osama and the rest of the family."

But Eric Meier, the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property's director, told reporters earlier this year: "Since the protection of the Binladin trademark threatens to considerably hurt society circles in their emotional and moral feelings following September 11, our institute has launched a procedure to revoke the trademark."

Registration in Switzerland allows people to apply for trademark protection in 70 countries that have signed an international intellectual property treaty.

The United States is not a signatory.

Last October Binladin said his whole family condemned Osama bin Laden "for his acts and his convictions."

Binladin was born in Saudi Arabia, one of the children of Mohammed Ben Oud Ben Laden and his 22 wives.

He has said he only met his younger half brother three or four times in his life, all before Osama left Saudi Arabia in 1981.

He recently won an injunction preventing publication in Switzerland of a book by two French authors who alleged he had close links to Osama, and is suing them for damages.