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13 January 2015Trademarks

‘Je suis Charlie’ trademark application filed

A trademark application for ‘Je suis Charlie’, the phrase popularised in the wake of last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris, has been filed at the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP).

The application was filed on January 8, the day after the attacks on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Gunmen killed 12 people, including eight Charlie Hebdo employees. The attacks prompted thousands of Paris residents to pour onto the streets to proclaim the message ‘Je suis Charlie’ (I am Charlie). The slogan was also used widely online.

The BOIP is the official body that administers trademarks and designs in the Benelux region, which comprises Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

According to the BOIP website, the applicant is named Yanick Uytterhaegen, from Belgium, and the application seeks to cover classes including cleaning products, stationery and clothing.

It is the latest case of an individual being quick off the mark in an attempt to trademark a popular slogan or saying.

In December last year, WIPR reported that US woman Catherine Crump filed an application with the US Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the phrase ‘I can’t breathe’.

The phrase was said to be the final one uttered by Eric Garner, who died in July after an incident with the police in Staten Island, New York. A video released online appeared to show Garner, a cigarette seller, being held round the neck by a police officer following a conversation between the pair.

In May last year, Belize-based Seyefull Investments successfully registered the ‘MH370’ trademark. The number had become infamous after a Malaysian aeroplane, which had MH370 as its flight number, went missing on its journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March.

Charlie Hebdo was targeted by Islamic extremists for its cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammed.

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More on this story

Trademarks
14 January 2015   France’s IP office has rejected 50 trademark applications for ‘Je suis Charlie’ since the terrorist attacks that shook the country.
Trademarks
15 January 2015   A trademark application for ‘Je suis Charlie’ has now been filed in the US, following similar bids across Europe.