By: Sharon Urias, Esq.
Just two days after the Boston Marathon bombing, two companies applied to trademark the words “Boston Strong.” Two separate Massachusetts-based applicants have filed requests with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the phrase, which became a rallying cry for Boston, to use for clothing and accessories. Though seen as opportunists trying to make a buck off a tragedy by many, both parties claim their intentions are good.
Kerim Senkal from Allston, Mass., stated he thought of the idea while making deliveries to one of his regular customers, an office that has screen-printing machines. According to TIME, Senkal stated he will “give 100 percent of the profits to the ‘One Fund’ charity to assist families affected by the bombing.
Born Into It, Inc., the other trademark applicant, is a t-shirt company owned by Ryan Gormady, who told the Huffington Post that he will donate twenty percent of his company’s profits sold from April 12 through April 30 to ‘One Fund.’ Gormady’s online retail store, Chowdaheadz.com, has already began selling “Boston Strong” t-shirts for $19.99, as well as other products.
Attorney Christopher Ott, stated that by the time the Patent and Trademark Office examines and makes a decision about the requests, “the window of opportunity may have already passed and they (the applicants) may no longer be interested in spending the money to pursue this.” Ott also said that with the trend of seeking trademarks on words in the news so rampant today, he was rather surprised there were only two applications for “Boston Strong.”
Another attorney states these two applicants are wasting their application fees. Washington D.C. trademark attorney, Josh Gerben, states the words “Boston Strong” have been so widely circulated they belong in the public domain and therefore cannot be trademarked. He compares these words to the phrase 9/11, for after the September 11, 2001, attacks, the federal government banned anyone the exclusive rights to this phrase.
