#Roommates, a young black businessman who goes by the name of Curtis Bordenave, wants to trademark the N-word. Does he have a good shot of getting approved? Well, that’s another story!
According to USA Today, Curtis Bordenave submitted an application to the U.S Patent and Trademark Office seeking the commercial use of the word “ni***.”
“We plan on dictating the future of how we define this word. A young, black businessman from Mississippi has acquired the rights to the word. I think that’s a great ending to that story” Bordenave said.
Bordenave’s bold move to submit his trademark application comes at a favorable moment. Reports surfaced last month that the Supreme Court has decided the federal government could not ban trademarks of degrading words and symbols.
Bordenave tried to also trademark a similar word back in 2008, but was denied. However, Bordenave’s come back game was pretty strong this time around as reports also say the purpose of his commercial use of the N-word “covers a broad range of product possibilities: clothing, games, accessories, fragrances, charitable fundraising, humor and comedic performances, television show production, bumper stickers, campaign buttons, and mobile apps.”
So far, there are six trademark applications for “n***” in the system. However, patent attorney Michael Williams states there is a very little chance applications like these will get approved. “The thing is, while you may see a large number of people trademarking offensive language, in my opinion, I think it’s going to be tougher to have trademarks granted,” Williams said. “There are certain words that are generic and impossible to obtain a trademark for. My guess is, absent of it being something like a group name or product that you’re selling, it is going to be very difficult for someone to go and trademark that particular slur, generally speaking.”
Let’s hope he can beat the odds and get this trademark roommates!
Source- http://www.complex.com/life/2017/07/mississippi-man-wants-to-trademark-n-word
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