Wednesday, August 22, 2012

From a Russian Prison Cell, Pussy Riot Seeks to Trademark Its Name

Игорь Мухин/GNU Free Documentation License

Several members of the punk rocker/feminist activist group known as "Pussy Riot" have sought to trademark the name from their Russian prison cell.


In February 2012, the controversial group performed a 30 second concert of sorts on the soleas of Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior, in which they hurled obscenities against Virgin Mary, the Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Moscow Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church.

After a trial, they were found guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred and sentenced to 2 years in prison.


Fear for their lives apparently hasn't dampened their ardor or intellectual property strategy, which consists of seeking to protect their name from unauthorized uses.

Pussy Riot's trademark lawyer said the group wishes to discourage attempts to use its name to derive profits or promote "questionable" projects that contradict its "ideals and aspirations."



He claims that profits will be tolerated only if the proceeds are used to "further fight the political system's imperfections."

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