Branding Snowden: Chinese tech firm wants to trademark NSA leaker
A Beijing-based electric car technology company wants to use NSA-leaker Edward Snowden’s name as a brand for their new ‘secret technology’.
Electric car technology firm Hong Yuan Lan Xiang (HYLX) submitted
an application to the Chinese authorities to register the
“Snowden” trademark in both Chinese and English, manager Hefeng
Zhu told the South China Morning Post.
“We are talking with China’s domestic carmakers, and we aim to
launch cars equipped with our technology by the end of this
year,” Zhu told the South China Morning Post in a telephone
interview on Friday.
HYLX considers their new ‘top-secret’ technology to be as
groundbreaking as Snowden’s leaks. Removable batteries,
conversion from fuel to electric, and expedited charging are some
of the new products the company is offering, Zhu said.
“Snowden”, a brand already registered by several Chinese
companies prior to the famed NSA leaks, may be denied on the basis it is too
“political” as the name is considered a “sensitive” subject to
Chinese authorities, according to Wang Hao, manager of
Beijing-based Baishifuda Times Intellectual Property firm, told
the Post.
Experts believe it could take 12 to 15 months for the patent
application to be approved, Wang Hao said.
Unlike other patent law, a trademark can be used for multiple
products, as long as the industries don’t overlap.
But since firms are allowed to register the same trademark under
different “categories” listed by the country’s State
Administration for Industry and Commerce, the Chinese aren’t the
only ones hoping to cash in on the former US intelligence agent’s
name by registering it as a trademark.
Russian businessmen have attempted to register the image of the
whistleblower’s face. Rospatent has three reported applications
for the image of Snowden’s face, likely lifted from screen shots
of his on-air interview with the Guardian.
"The desire of businessmen to make money on some media
personalities is clear. If his portrait is recognizable, Snowden
may challenge in court its commercial use and has all chances to
succeed," Stanislav Kaufman, brand manager of ‘Putinka’ vodka
told Russian Beyond the Headlines.
Celebrities often patent themselves to gain exclusive rights so
their names aren’t used without permission in commercials or
endorsements, but there have been no reports if Snowden filed a
trademark for his own name.
