I never really liked the men with make-up in leggings, but with this campaign, KISS bassist and singer Gene Simmons is about as popular as Lars Ulrich from Metallica did with Napster and MP3, and Simmons goes even further. According to Hollywood Reporter he's trying to get a Register a trademark for the French fries fork. He wants the trademark according to the application (PDF) for «Entertainment, namely, live performances by a musical artist; personal appearances by a musical artist», i.e. he wants to collect licenses from all artists who make the rock hand sign on stage! What an asshole! Fuck you, Gene Simmons!
According to Simmons, this hand gesture was first used in commerce Nov. 14, 1974. That appears to correspond with Kiss' Hotter Than Hell tour.
Speaking of hell, the hand gesture appears quite similar to what's known as the "Sign of the horns," a devil signal that, according to an entertaining entry from Wikipedia, dates back to the 5th Century BC founder of Buddhism.
Simmons is claiming the hand gesture mark for "entertainment, namely, live performances by a musical artist; personal appearances by a musical artist.»
Before the Trademark Office allows this hand gesture to be registered — it perhaps wouldn't be unprecedented — an examiner would consider the likelihood of confusion and, possibly, whether it's too generic to be associated with Simmons. [To the right], for example, is the album cover for the Beatles› 1966 single, Yellow Submarine/Eleanor Rigby.
Thinking of trademarking "??"
- Nikki Sixx (@NikkiSixx) June 15, 2017