Pedro Pascal takes legal action against drinks brand Pedro Piscal

Pedro Pascal is waging a legal battle against a Chilean alcohol merchant who is selling his brand of the country's national spirit under the name Pedro Piscal.

David Herrera successfully registered the brand name with a Chilean commercial regulator in 2023 and began selling his pisco, a potent grape brandy, in shops and restaurants.

"We tried a few names and Pedro Piscal stuck," Herrera told The Guardian. "Then we were planning a trip up to the Pisco region when suddenly we were getting strongly worded emails from lawyers. Me, a mere mortal, getting emails from a superstar actor? It scared me a bit."

Chilean-born Pascal has filed to take control of the brand name on account of its similarity to his own name and brand.

The outcome of the legal case is being closely watched in Chile. It is expected to set a significant precedent for how celebrity names are protected in a country where using star power to shift product is not uncommon.

To date, similar cases have not been successful. A honey business calling itself Miel Gibson, and using a still of Mel Gibson from the film Braveheart on the label, won the right to keep using the name after the actor sued.

In 2020, DC Comics went after a bakery in Santiago that had called itself Superpan for three decades and used images of Clark Kent and his famous 'S' motif. The bakery emerged victorious.