Banner Witcoff attorney Liz Brodzinski was quoted in a pair of articles detailing a recent surge of applications seeking to trademark the slogans “Black Lives Matter” and “I Can’t Breathe.”
According to the articles published by Bloomberg Law and WTTW, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has received more than two dozen requests to trademark the slogans since May 25, when George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer.
Liz told the publications that attempts to trademark the phrases date back more than five years ago and that the USPTO has rejected previous attempts. She said the recently-filed applications may be rejected if the USPTO acts consistently with its prior decisions.
The June 24 Bloomberg Law article, “‘Black Lives Matter’ Trademark Applications Surge After Protests,” is available online to subscribers. The June 29 WTTW article, “‘Black Lives Matter’ Wine? Teddy Bears? Trademark Law Shows You Can’t Always ‘Just Do It’,” can be viewed online.
Posted: June 29, 2020
