"Charile Hebdo" and "Je suis Charlie" have been the phrases on lips worldwide over the past week, since France mourned the killing of 12 Charlie Hebdo staff last week.
But one Australian family trust is attempting to use the tragedy – and the resulting rallying cry – to make a quick buck and have applied to trademark the phrases ‘Charlie Hebdo’ and ‘je suis Charlie.’
"Je suis Charlie" translates to “I am Charlie” and has become a phrase synonymous with showing solidarity for the murdered staff of the satirical French magazine.
The Melbourne based M&C Besser Family Trust claim "Je suis Charlie" covers electronic desktop publishing, magazine publishing, publishing by electronic means, publishing of books and publishing of printed matter.
The phrase "Charlie Hebdo" trademark claim covers clothing.
If M&C are successful in their bid for the phrases, the trust could prevent others from using the phrase or change them a licence to do so in electronic media or across clothing.
In the USA, trademarks on popular rallying cries such as “Occupy Wall Street”, “Boston Strong” and, more recently, “I can’t Breath” have been shot down by intellectual property bodies because a trademark has to be a source identifier.
In other words, the phrase needs to point to a single source for a certain good or service. The above phrases, as will likely be the case with M&C’s bid for a trademark, do not identify with a single source.
Instead, the public see them as conveying an informational message about the issue currently being addressed.
#Illridewithyou, the phrase which trended globally after the Sydney siege in December last year, is still under consideration by Intellectual Property (IP) Australia.
Jason Walls
Fri, 16 Jan 2015
Fri, 16 Jan 2015
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Aussie family trust seeks to trademark global cries of solidarity
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