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6 August 2015Trademarks

‘Cecil the lion’ trademark applicant explains motives

An applicant for the US trademark ‘Cecil the lion’ has told WIPR that he wants to raise awareness of lions and other wildlife that are being “illegally hunted”.

We reported yesterday, August 5, that i-Star Entertainment filed  the application at the US Patent and Trademark Office on July 30.

Joel Rosenzweig, president of i-Star, which has also applied for ‘King Cecil’, explained that the reason for filing the application is “more interesting than simply picking up a trademark to use in commerce”.

Cecil was a lion that lived in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe but was killed as part of a hunting expedition late last month.

i-Star is one of three companies in the US that has applied to trademark ‘Cecil the lion’, while toy maker Ty has applied for ‘Cecil’.

Ty’s application seeks to cover novelty toy items including bean bags and stuffed animals.

Another company that has filed an application for ‘Cecil the lion’ is California-based travel agency  Exclusive Adventures.

The application is intended to cover apparel and charitable services for preserving wildlife.

Privage Limited Corporation, the third company, has filed an application covering stationery, apparel and sports equipment.

The trademark applications have provoked a negative reaction from some on social media, with one Twitter user, ‘Alex’, saying: “This seems a cynical trade mark land grab.”

Rosenzweig explained to WIPR the reasoning behind i-Star’s trademark application, which is seeking to cover goods including toys, games and t-shirts, and services including entertainment and publishing.

He said that his son, David Rosenzweig, is currently in Africa campaigning for the conservation of wild animals with a wildlife film crew. His son also wrote an article for wildlife news website Africa Geographic outlining the best ways to conserve wildlife.

Joel Rosenzweig continued: “We felt it was a good opportunity to bring global awareness, not just to the poaching of lions, but the rhinos, pangolins, giraffe, zebra and other wild game that are being trophy hunted, or illegally poached.

“This has been our inspiration for picking up the ‘Cecil the lion’ trademark, as we look forward to expanding the brand and working with local conservation efforts to help fund them and bring awareness to the plight of the wild animals in Africa.”

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Trademarks
5 August 2015   A US-based toy and games distributor has filed an application to register ‘Cecil the lion’ as a trademark.