Trayvon’s Mom Seeking to Trademark Rally Chants
Los Angeles – In a case that has garnered international media attention over the shooting death of a seventeen-year-old Florida boy, the boy’s parents are attempting to trademark phrases chanted in rallies organized to pressure police into making an arrest in the boy’s death.
Teenager Trayvon Martin was shot to death February 26th by a neighborhood watch patrolman, who claims he acted in self defense against the un-armed youth. The phrases “I am Trayvon” and “Justice for Trayvon” have been repeatedly chanted by supporters outraged over the fact that police have not arrested George Zimmerman on murder charges.
Trayvon’s parents insist that they are not trying to make money off of their slain son, but want to secure the trademarks to spread awareness about the case. Last week, Trayvon’s mother, Sabrina Fulton, applied to register the two trademarks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The trademark applications cover digital media, CD’s and DVD’s.
“We just appreciate the support that we’ve been receiving,” Fulton stated to news reporters last week. “We’re thinking about next steps and the plans we need to take right now to try to get some justice for our son.”
The trademark attorney representing the family indicated that the family wanted to register the trademarks over fear that people would try to profit by exploiting their son’s death. One example the lawyer gave was someone falsely claiming to be raising funds for the family. Besides the issue of preventing others from exploiting the family’s tragedy, the lawyer also stressed that another purpose of the trademark filings was to keep putting pressure on the Sanford, Florida police to make an arrest in the case.
Trayvon’s family is reportedly planning to start a foundation in the teen’s name and wants to protect the phrases for the foundation’s future use. The family’s goal of the foundation is to help others dealing with similar issues.
Just days after Trayvon’s mother filed her trademark applications, Los Angeles musician Marcus Singletary applied for the trademark “Justice for Trayvon” to appear on hooded sweatshirts. Singletary cited that he is interested in providing assistance to the family if the product is successful. He indicated that he wants to sell the hooded sweatshirts in protest to some popular media figures who felt that it was significant to claim that the teen was possibly shot over appearing suspicious because of his wardrobe choice, a hooded sweatshirt.