Opus Dei, the elite and powerful organization within the Roman
Catholic Church, is suing a Danish publisher for alleged trademark
violations involving a card game titled "Opus Dei. Existence After
Religion."
Public hearings in the suit began last Wednesday, and Opus Dei spokeswoman
Joanna Engstedt told The Associated Press that Dema Games, the
publisher of the philosophy-themed, strategy-based game, has no right to
the use her organization's name, which means "work of God" in Latin.
Dema Games, a small company, obtained a copyright for the full name
of the card game in 2009, and claims on its Facebook page that "no one
entity can claim sole rights to religious concepts of any kind."
The
game is the brainchild of a philosophy student, Mark Rees-Andersen, 28,
who launched it in January 2009.
Opus Dei was founded in Spain in 1928 by a Catholic priest and given
official Vatican approval by Pope Pius XII in 1950.
The group drew
worldwide attention when Dan Brown published his best-selling "The Da
Vinci Code" novel in 2003, and it portrayed the conservative network of
Catholic priests and laity as a sinister and sadistic sect.
The real Opus Dei responded to `'The Da Vinci Code" on its website,
saying, `'It would be irresponsible to form any opinion of Opus Dei
based on reading `The Da Vinci Code.' `
Fearing the novel would raise
doubts about basic Christian beliefs, Christian churches, clergy members
and Bible scholars also rebutted it.
But Brown wasn't sued for those
reasons.
In Denmark, Opus Dei is demanding that the game's trademark
registration in the country be deleted.
It also is seeking 300,000
kroner ($51,500) in financial compensation and closure of the website
where the game is on sale, according to Janne Glaesel, defense lawyer
for Rees-Andersen and for Dema Games.
"These are far-reaching demands," Glaesel told the AP. "In our view,
you cannot get the right to a common concept like Opus Dei, which can be
equated with ... other religious concepts like hallelujah."
Opus Dei does not have a representative in Denmark, a predominantly Lutheran country.
Engstedt, the spokesperson for Opus Dei in Scandinavia, said it is
the organization's Spanish branch that is suing Dema Games.
Opus Dei
Spain did not respond to emailed questions, and its Danish lawyers were
not immediately available.
It is not clear how long the hearings regarding the lawsuit will last
at the Danish Maritime and Commercial High Court or when it could make
its ruling.