Occupy Wall Street’ seeks to trademark the brand

Occupy Wall Street applied for the trademark to its name on Oct. 24. | AP Photo Close

By MACKENZIE WEINGER | 10/31/11 2:19 PM EDT

Occupy Wall Street is looking to make its mark — on everything from tote bags to t-shirts.

The Occupy Wall Street movement applied for the trademark to its name on Oct. 24, filing for the use of the mark on its website, in periodicals and newsletters, and on clothing and bags.

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But the movement isn’t the only entity hoping to lay claim to the name —Fer-Eng Investments, LLC, of Arizona also applied to trademark Occupy Wall Street on Oct. 24. Fer-Eng Investments wrote in its filing it is intending to use the name on bags, footwear, hats and various other clothing items.

According to attorney Samuel Cohen of the Law Offices of Wylie M. Stecklow, a firm that is part of the Occupy Wall Street legal working group, the movement’s trademark application process will likely take months.

“Trademark filings take a while,” Cohen told POLITICO. “It generally, from when we submit something, and we submitted last week, it takes three to five months for the United States Patent and Trademark Office to get back to us.”

According to CNNMoney, which first reported the story on Monday, Occupy Wall Street’s application went into the trademark office at 3:54 p.m., followed a few hours later by Fer-Eng Investments at 6:41 p.m. Cohen said the Occupy Wall Street movement was first informed of Fer-Eng’s application by CNNMoney. “We were only made aware of them last night,” he said.

Cohen added that the Occupy Wall Street legal working group will meet Monday night and will likely discuss the trademark situation.

In the filing, the Occupy Wall Street movement stressed its existence as an “unincorporated association.”

“To the extent that it is possible, this application is intended to vest trademark rights in ‘Occupy Wall Street’ in the unincorporated association ‘Occupy Wall Street’ as a whole, not in the individual applicants as joint applicants per se,” the application states. “Any uses of the “Occupy Wall Street” mark herein claimed are and will be authorized by the majority vote of the General Assembly of Occupy Wall Street or a duly designated agent or agents thereof.”

Vincent Ferraro of Fer-Eng Investments wrote in a statement to POLITICO that he is “a branding and marketing executive” and is not associated with Occupy Wall Street.

“My purchase is for a business enterprise and not in anyway (including politically) affiliated with OWS,” he wrote.

According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office documents, both of the applications “will be assigned to an examining attorney approximately 3 months after filing date.”

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