And Of Course, The Attempts To Trademark 'Je Suis Charlie' Have Begun
from the just-stop-it dept
Last week, you may have heard, the main “rallying cry” in response to the attack at satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo was “Je Suis Charlie.” That was all over the media (social and mainstream). On Friday, Roberto Ledesma warned the world not to try to trademark the phrase, noting that it would end badly and you’d be mocked and ridiculed for doing so.
I write this post on the off chance that anyone considering filing a trademark application for JE SUIS CHARLIE ? or any future trending rallying cries ? finds it, reads it and reconsiders. Here?s why:
- The USPTO will refuse your application.
- You will not get your money back.
- You may be publicly ridiculed.
So don?t even try. It?s as simple as that.
It’s a great article that goes into a lot more detail, including lots of other examples (including a few we’ve covered) about idiots trying to trademark “Occupy Wall Street,” “Boston Strong,” “Hands Up Don’t Shoot,” “I Can’t Breathe” and various other “rallying cries.” They all failed, and they just made the applicant look bad.
Applicants must also realize that there is no right to confidentiality in the information disclosed in a USPTO trademark application, including your name and address. The press may come calling. You may get trolled on social media. You will upset masses of people who feel the phrase is part of something much larger than any single person or entity?s business ambitions. They will be repulsed by your actions. I wonder how the woman who filed the I CAN?T BREATHE trademark application feels about all the negative attention she has received.
That was Saturday. On Tuesday, we get from IP Kat: BREAKING NEWS: someone wants to register ‘Je suis Charlie’ as a trademark.
Filed Under: je suis charlie, trademark
Comments on “And Of Course, The Attempts To Trademark 'Je Suis Charlie' Have Begun”
ha ha ha
They deserve all of the negativity they get too!
They openly reveal to all the type of douche bags they are, and therefore they deservingly reap the negativity of others.
But I am pleasantly shocked the the USPTO rejected them… I guess they just did not pay the right people or political players enough to get their way. If Disney did it… they probably would have gotten it! Well… so long as they do not pull the application after a backlash.
Re: ha ha ha
USPTO is less accomodating towards non-US companies. So on that account it makes sense.
I like that they are clearly labelling what they are going to use the trademark for: soap/cosmetics, clothes, many kinds of paper-articles and some strange category.
Economically milking a tragedy by cornering the merchandise market is fairly disgusting from a moral standpoint.
INPI
The INPI (“French USPTO”) announced today that it had lots wouldn’t consider attenpts to trademark “Je suis Charlie”.
Press release:
http://www.inpi.fr/fr/l-inpi/espace-presse/communiques-de-presse/detail-communique/article/marque-je-suis-charlie-5968.html?cHash=29c53578373d677cdc62bca45557f40f
Re: INPI
Remove the “had lots” from the sentence for it to makes sense…sorry.
It’s sickening how people try to profit off the tragedy of someone’s murder.
Might have matched his other application
I’m guessing this was filed after his application for the phrase ‘Je suis idiot’.
(I’m not sure if that’s grammatically correct, but it does give me the rare chance to say ‘pardon my French’ legitimately.)
Re: Might have matched his other application
(I’m not sure if that’s grammatically correct, but it does give me the rare chance to say ‘pardon my French’ legitimately.)
That translated fine according to my four years of French in High-school, and confirmed with google French -> English translation.
French -> English translation: “I am an idiot”
Re: Re: Might have matched his other application
Yeah, you can use both “Je suis idiot ” (as an adjective) and “Je suis un idiot” (as an noun)
Words that matter
How about
“Je suis un grand gros idiot?”
Seriously stupid.
In attempting to trademark a phrase that’s become legendary already, the applicants fail to understand that they’re also trying to trademark a common name.
Hey, I want to trademark mine! Think they’ll let me?
Needed change
You may be publicly ridiculed.
That should be changed to will. Anyone who tries to make a quick buck off of a tragedy deserves to be ruthlessly, publicly mocked for their actions. They deserve loud and repeated scorn and ridicule for letting greed stomp flat their common sense and decency, to the point that their name is forever linked to their attempt to cash in on the suffering of others.
Masnick you slimy grease ball, you were just charging for the use of that Streisand term you coined the other day! Talk about hypocrisy. /cluelesstroll
Ahem. It’s not a surprise and it’s going to happen every time there is such thing. It may be much more damning to the applicant this time given the reaction and the reach is much, much stronger and wider than usual.
US Application for JE SUIS CHARLIE filed as well
Unfortunately a U.S. application has also been filed:
http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=86499802&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch
Re: US Application for JE SUIS CHARLIE filed as well
Well, seems legit to me. After all, Steven J. Stanwyck of The Stanwyck Firm in Santa Monica is DBA “The Je Suis Charlie Trust,” and has been using the phrase in commerce since Jan. 7. His application definitely “reflects core values of charitable giving.”
Re: Re: US Application for JE SUIS CHARLIE filed as well
Steven Jay Stanwyck – #48728
Current Status: Disbarred
This member is prohibited from practicing law in California by order of the California Supreme Court.
Not necessarily about owning the phrase
Not too sure who is registering for the trademark, but in some cases like these, registering a trademark can be a good defensive tool to keep others from capitalizing on it.
It’s not that every idea, thought, concept, and phrase must be owned, but simply the fact that you want to ensure random companies are not commercializing “Je Suis Charlie”
Wouldn't Revlon already have dibs on that?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_%28fragrance%29
Je ne suis pas Charlie.