Inside Pedro Pascal’s Years-Long Legal Battle Against a Chilean Liquor Brand

Pedro Pascal arrives at the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo: by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

A years-long legal battle has pitted “The Mandalorian” star Pedro Pascal against spirits brand Pedro Piscal, a punnily named brandy maker based in the actor’s home country of Chile.

The dispute begins with Chilean entrepreneur David Herrera, who was reportedly inspired to launch a pisco brand in December 2022 following a round of drinks with family. The national spirit of Peru, pisco is a regional form of brandy distilled from fermented white grape juice. Herrera got to work on a recipe distilled in the Elqui Valley, registered a trademark in 2023 and began selling bottles at around $12 per bottle in 2024.

According to Latin Nation, Herrera’s one-letter-different brand name passed its mandatory 30-day window for objections without opposition. By the time his brand hit the ground running, however, word had apparently traveled far and wide, triggering a lawsuit from Pedro Pascal’s lawyers.

The actor’s law firm, Estudio Silva, told El País that the brand “is almost identical in graphic and phonetic terms” to the Hollywood star, alleging there was a “clear interest in commercial exploitation” that “evidently seeks to be related to Pedro Pascal for profit.”

(Photo: Pedro Piscal)

“We tried a few names and Pedro Piscal stuck,” Herrera told The Guardian in a recent interview. “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.”

The liquor brand does not feature an image of Pascal on its label or marketing, instead showing a silhouette of a man and his dog walking toward a mountain range in the background.

What’s more, Herrera has a plausible — or at least, arguable — case for distinction. According to Herrera’s lawyer, “Pedro” references Pedro Ximénez, the popular Spanish grape varietal used to distill the liquor. “Piscol,” meanwhile, is one letter longer than “pisco” and one letter short of “piscola,” the national cocktail of Peru (a highball typically made with one part pisco and three parts Coca-Cola).

“We don’t use [Pascal’s] face or his likeness anywhere,” Herrera told The Guardian. “We’re just selling a good product.”

Though the case is currently in the evidence stage, Pascal’s lawyers have already secured a string of small wins. After first bringing the lawsuit, the “Game of Thrones” actor successfully reclaimed the digital domain names for pedro-piscal.cl and pedropiscalpisco.cl. Herrera now uses the domain piscal.cl, with many of the same images and branding as its previous iteration. The brand is also active on Instagram at @pedropiscaloficial, through which it regularly collaborates with local bartenders, liquor store owners and content creators.