Celebrities are famous for being poseurs, but can their body movements be protected as a trademark, subject to damages for infringement? A recent article explores this and points to recent examples of gestures that celebrities have—or tried to have—protected. Back in 2017, Gene Simmons of KISS fame applied to register the sign of the horns (aka the devil’s horn hand gesture) that he claimed to have been using since 1974. He withdrew the application after criticism from the music industry because the gesture is now ubiquitous. This past August, athlete Usain Bolt applied to register his “lightning pose/Bolting” in the U.S, which is pending (it’s already registered in the European Union). Jay-Z registered the diamond hand signal in the U.S. in 2019. There are several obstacles and challenges to registering these types of trademarks, points out the article, “Celebrity Rights: Body Movements and Signature Poses as Trade Marks,” which is available if you click here.
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