Safeguarding your creativity with trade marks
In what I would consider to be the complete opposite of the whole ‘very demure, very mindful’ motif, a trade mark squatter has tried to swoop in and steal the rights to “Very Demure… Very Mindful…” by registering an application for the trade mark before its creator.
If you’re not a TikTok user, you may not have seen this trend yet where Jools Lebron, a trans influencer, sparked this catchy phrase which has been picked up by social media users EVERYWHERE. Jools intended to use this new found celebrity power to launch merchandise using the phrase to help pay for transition surgery. However, a trade mark squatter by the name of Jefferson Bates got in first. Boo to you Jefferson Bates.
The machinations of trade mark law do mean that Jools will be able to contest the application as the first user of the phrase and defeat Jefferson’s application.
So why do it? Because the trade marks system is slow and to oppose the registration will take months. By the time it is all sorted, the trend will have passed and the ability to make money will have reduced and maybe even disappeared. So instead Jools will appoint lawyers to negotiate with the squatter to withdraw their application ASAP. Trade mark squatters hope to make a quick buck out of this by attaching a fee to their agreement to withdraw the application.
It’s sneaky, it’s underhanded and is not the first time this has happened. Anyone who has attended my Startup Central Victoria sessions on Protecting your IP knows that this also happened with the phrase “Barbenheimer” in 2023.
And there are 3,694 results for “Hawk Tuah” in the US Trade Marks system according to a search undertaken on 30th August 2024. These applications cover everything from golf shirts to cleaning products.
While there may not be quite as many opportunistic people waiting to capitalise on your idea, just one is enough to make a problem for you. This means we have to be careful about safeguarding your creativity with trade marks. Of course, Jools could never have predicted the fame that would be generated so quickly from this video! Things usually move in a more demure and mindful fashion and applying for your trade mark before announcing your business plan to the world is still the best laid plan to protect your ideas. Sitting in your recipe book for success amongst other ingredients like trade secrets, NDAs, exclusivity agreements, restraints of trade to make the special blend of protection we cook up for you!
Today on Wear it Purple Day, we celebrate the creativity and contributions of our LGBTQIA+ community and wish Jools all the best in capitalising on this phrase and getting that gender affirming treatment!
