An Illinois woman has filed a trademark application for the phrase "I can't breathe," the final words spoken by the African-American man Eric Garner as a New York City police officer incapacitated him with a chokehold.
Catherine L. Crump claims she started using the phrase "in commerce" as early as Aug. 18, one month and a day after the death of Garner. She filed the application online for $325 on Dec. 13 with the United States Patent and Trademark office.
She intends to use the phrase on clothing items such as hoodies and t-shirts for "men, women, boy, girls and infants," according to the application. She also provided photos of clothing she already produced emblazoned with the phrase on it.
Crump told The Smoking Gun that she has "nothing to do with the Garner family" and has not spoken with them about the trademark. She also claims her decision has nothing to with monetary gain, but failed to give another reason for the trademark's purpose.
"It's conceivable it could be worth a considerable amount of money. They could make a tidy sum," Jonathan Masur, a University of Chicago law professor, told the Chicago Tribune.
People have chanted the phrase "I can't breathe" as they march through cities across the country, protesting the grand jury's decision not to indict NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Garner. College and professional athletes have also donned t-shirts with the phrase during their pre-game warm-ups.
Three people have filed trademark applications for the phrase "Hands Up, Don't Shoot," stemming from the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson Missouri on Aug. 9. A Kansas man wants to trademark the phrase and a design a man in black silloutte standing with his hands raised in the air. The other two applications (one from Missouri and the other from Pennsylvania) intend to use the phrase on clothing items.
