‘Cecil the lion’ trademark application filed
A US-based toy and games distributor has filed an application to register ‘Cecil the lion’ as a trademark.
i-Star Entertainment filed the application at the US Patent and Trademark Office on July 30.
The application is intended to cover goods including toys, games and t-shirts, and services including entertainment and publishing.
Cecil was a lion that lived in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe but was killed as part of a hunting expedition late last month.
A well-known attraction, he had a distinctive black-fringed mane and a GPS tracking collar. He also established his own pride within the park and fathered several cubs.
He came to the media’s attention on July 26 after the killing was first reported.
Two days later US dentist Walter Palmer was revealed as the killer. He allegedly paid $50,000 to kill Cecil, but later said he had no idea the lion was treasured and that the hunt was legal.
At the time of writing, an online petition calling for Palmer to be extradited from the US to face trial in Zimbabwe had attracted more than 230,000 signatures. After the petition reached 100,000 signatures on July 30 the US government said that it would respond to it within 60 days.
Richard Blank, an attorney at Blank Legal and who filed the application on behalf of i-Star Entertainment, had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication, but we will update the story should he get in touch.
