What kind of a creep would attempt to capitalize on the deadly terrorist attack on a Paris satirical magazine that left 12 innocent people dead? By way of an answer meet Joe Marc Gershon of Aventura, Fla., just north of Miami. Gershon is president, secretary, and sole director of Latin American Trading Group, which operates out two-bedroom condominium apartment.
According to the Smoking Gun, Gerhson filed a trademark application for the label “Je Suis Charlie” last week with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The phrase became a rallying cry after Islamic terrorists raided the offices of Charlie Hebdo and shot the editor, three cartoonists, and other staff members to death. Gershon’s plan is to use the label on clothing, footwear, bags, luggage, suitcases, wallets, briefcases, key chains, beverage glasses, bowls, dishes, salt and pepper shakers, lunch boxes, pot holders, serving platters, and coasters. What a guy!
Gershon is not the only cretin to attempt to make hay off other people’s misfortune:
On January 12, Michael Southern, a 42-year-old Chicago resident, applied to trademark “Black Lives Matter.” Southern, a former aspiring model who operates an online t-shirt business, paid a $325 filing fee for an application seeking to use the phrase on t-shirts and hoodies for all ages (from “infants, babies, toddlers and children” to “men, women, boys, girls”).
Southern, who is already selling a “Black Lives Matter” t-shirt on his web site, claims that he has been using the phrase in commerce since “at least as early as 12/18/2014.” On his site, the “Black Lives Matter” shirt has a “TM” mark on it, though the trademark has not been issued.
Likewise, Southern is peddling “I Can’t Breathe” t-shirts with an identical “TM” mark, though he has not applied for that phrase (which has already been claimed by an Illinois woman).
