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Government Misusing Trademark Law To Stop Biker Gang
from the abuse-of-trademark dept
We've seen all sorts of abuses of trademark law over the years, but this one may be the most bizarre (by far). Slashdot points us to a government crackdown on a California-based motorcycle gang called the Mongols. Sixty members in seven states were arrested for a variety of crimes including murder, robbery, racketeering, extortion, money laundering, gun trafficking and drug dealing. Basically, it's a takedown on organized crime.
However, what's really odd is that the government is also asking the court to hand over the Mongol's trademarks. Apparently, the group trademarked the name and insignia. If the court grants the request, police say they'd be able to automatically stop anyone they see wearing a Mongol patch and simply take the jacket away from them on the spot. While I'm sure the police would love that authority, this is clearly not what trademark law was intended to do, and would be a pretty big stretch for how trademark law could be used. It would set a dangerous precedent as well in simply handing over trademarks to the government. While I have no doubt that this motorcycle gang was likely involved in plenty of illegal and dangerous activities, that doesn't mean it's okay to abuse trademark law in dealing with them.
