And Finally Artist News

Gene Simmons doesn’t regret trying to trademark ‘devil horns’ gesture

By Chris Cooke | Published on Monday 21 August 2017

Remember how Gene Simmons was trying to trademark the ‘devil horns’ hand gesture, that is somewhat synonymous with rock and metal, on the basis he used it first?

Well, shortly after all that was reported – and after most of the rock and metal community had told him to fuck the fuck off, most inwardly, some outwardly – he withdrew his trademark application.

At the time American trademark law expert Ronald Adams wrote in Forbes: “Although images or stylised drawings of hand gestures can function and be registered as trademarks either by themselves or as part of a design mark, hand gestures in and of themselves cannot function as trademarks. And, even if they could, there would be no practical way to enforce the trademark against others (often referred to as ‘policing the mark’)”.

But Simmons would like you to know that [a] he could have trademarked the devil horns gesture if he’d wanted to, [b] he doesn’t regret filing his original application to do so, and [c] he owns all sorts of trademarks you’d be surprised about.

Speaking to Canadian newspaper the Windsor Star, Simmons said in a recent interview about the recent trademark application and the resulting outrage: “I regret nothing. Wake up every morning and let your conscience be your guide”.

“Did you know I own the money bag logo?” he went on. “The dollar sign with the bag of money. I own all kinds of things. I own ‘motion pictures’ as a trademark. Anyone who thinks that’s silly… the silliest thing I’ve ever done is wear more makeup and higher heels than your mommy. People said, ‘You can’t do that’. Actually, bitch – I can. I can do anything I want to do”.

So that’s you told. Bitch.