Trademarking Tragedy: Je Sui Charlie

Can tragedies be trademarked?

After the Paris massacre at Charlie Hebdo’s office in early January, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) received two applications to trademark "Je Suis Charlie" ("We Are Charlie"), a phrase embraced internationally in response to the January terrorist attack. One of the applicants is a trust from California who is seeking the trademark for charity purposes. The other, a trading group in Florida, aims to use the phrase commercially in apparel, accessories, and dining ware.

Trademarking well-known phrases from contemporary events is not a new occurrence. After the Boston Marathon bombings, the phrase "Boston Strong" became popular and the USPTO received the trademark application shortly afterwards. Similarly, following Eric Garner’s death from an apparent chokehold by a police officer, a woman from Illinois applied to trademark Garner’s last words, "I can’t breathe."

Such applications, though some still pending, have not seen many positive results. The USPTO rejected the "Boston Strong" application and explained that the mark could not indicate or distinguish the source, but rather merely convey an informational message.

Another relevant example involves the ALS Association’s application for an "Ice Bucket Challenge" trademark. The application received tremendous public criticism, accusing the association of attempting to derive commercial benefits from charity. Reacting to this social pressure, the ALS Association ended up withdrawing the application. Although the ALS application is not perfectly analogous to terrorism or a similar tragedy, the impact of public response to trademarking popular humanitarian or charitable phrases may shed some light on the currently pending applications.

Despite the failure of the precedents, the applicants for "Je Suis Charlie" are still optimistic that they will obtain the trademark. In fact, the Californian applicant has even sent a cease-and-desist letter to Charlie Hebdo over its use of the phrase five days after the attack. Currently, the applications are still pending, so we will have to wait and see whether such tragedies can actually be trademarked.

Source: Washington Post