Five of the weirdest trademarks

1. Usain Bolt’s victory pose

Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt may have retired in 2017, but he goes down in history as one of the greatest athletes of all time having won countless titles, including eight Olympic golds. The 36-year-old won so many medals that his celebratory “lightning bolt” stance became synonymous with his efforts on the track – and was mimicked by fans around the world.

This week it was revealed that Bolt submitted an application with the US Patent and Trademark Office to trademark a logo of his “legendary victory pose”, said Sky News. The filing indicates he will use it to “market a range of products including sunglasses, jewellery, bags and sporting goods, as well as restaurants and sports bars”.

Gerben Law Firm founder Josh Gerben, a Washington-based trademark lawyer who tracks filings by athletes, told Bloomberg that the list was relatively extensive. “The logo could be licensed or he could make those products himself,” he said.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

2. Taylor Swift’s cats’ names

With chart-topping songs, millions of album sales and a cabinet full of awards you’d think that Taylor Swift is the most marketable being in her household. Nope, her cats are pretty famous too. Swift’s “purr-fect companions” – Meredith Grey, Olivia Benson, and Benjamin Button – have “become celebrities in and of themselves”, said Parade.

“Swiftees” already knew that she had filed documents to trademark the names of her first two cats, Meredith and Olivia, TMZ reported. And when “BB” arrived in 2019 he was added to the “squad”. According to the documents Swift applied for the trademark “Meredith, Olivia & Benjamin Swift”, and the legal move opened the door for the singer to “cash in on every kind of merch imaginable – clothing and phone accessories, toys, luggage, home furnishings, key rings, arts and crafts kits, ornaments, glassware, colouring books, magazines etc”.

3. Barbie pink

Sounds, shapes, symbols and even colours can be trademarked, said Business Insider. Colourful trademark examples include UPS’s “brown” (the colour of its trucks), T-Mobile’s “magenta”, and Tiffany & Co’s “Tiffany Blue” to name a few.

One of the most famous trademarked colours is “Barbie pink”. Barbie's parent company Mattel trademarked the use of the “bright shade of pink” for more than “100 categories of Barbie products”, The New Indian Express reported. Officially called Pantone 219C, this is one colour that Mattel “won’t let you get away with” using, said Squibble.

4. Darth Vader breathing

Even the sound of Darth Vader breathing is trademarked, said Gizmodo. The Star Wars villain’s “caped getup and face mask is spooky and all”, but there’s “nothing like the grisly, mechanical sound of his breath”. According to the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), this is what’s called a “soundmark”.

In 2008 Lucasfilm obtained a registration from the USPTO for the “scuba” breathing sound in two classes, said Pixel Law. “Class 25 for costume masks, toys, and action figures, and Class 28 for halloween costumes.” According to the filing, the description of the soundmark “consists of the sound of rhythmic mechanical human breathing created by breathing through a scuba tank regulator”.

5. Images of the Eiffel Tower at night

As one of the world’s most famous landmarks, the Eiffel Tower in Paris is also one of the world’s most photographed structures. Just be careful when you are snapping this icon though – because taking a picture of the Eiffel Tower at night “could result in you breaking the law”, said The Sun. That’s because photographs at night “capture the light show which is actually copyrighted”.

It's illegal to “share, sell, or publish photos and videos” of the night-lit Eiffel Tower without prior permission from the Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel, said Insider. The tower’s nighttime light show was added in 1985 and is “therefore still protected under France’s copyright law as an artistic work”.