UK business man withdraws application to trademark ‘Black Lives Matter’, ‘I can’t breathe’
MANCHESTER, United Kingdom — A Manchester businessman who was attempting to trademark ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ‘I can’t breathe’ has withdrawn his applications following public backlash.
According to Manchester Evening News, the man — Georgios Demetriou, of Licence to Thrill Ltd — was applying to trademark a lists of goods for ‘Black Lives Matter’ included items of clothing. He also tried to trademark ‘I can’t breathe’ for charity bracelets, clothing and fundraising for charity.
The news outlet said a disclaimer on the applications submitted said: “This trademark is to be used for charitable work and not for personal gain on the back of recent unfortunate events.”
However, Demetriou withdrew his applications after public outrage over the past few days.
He said since submitting the applications, both he and his staff had received threats. He added that social media posts have been encouraging the public to share his business address and steer anger towards his personal social media accounts.
A Change.org petition entitled “Stop the trademark registration of Black Lives Matter & I Can’t breathe” was also created and has so far received almost 8,000 signatures.
