There are millions of hustles out here and people are definitely out here for that paper. An injured Long Island ironworker is trying to trademark “Occupy Wall St.” with the hope that the movement will turn into a global brand. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
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Robert Maresca, 44, said he was busy making homemade “Occupy” tee shirts with a Magic Marker last Tuesday when he grabbed his wife’s credit card and paid $975 for the trademark application on a whim.
He’s not exactly a leader of the protests in lower Manhattan, but he already has visited Zuccotti Park seven times, addressed the crowd once and said he’s “appalled” by the country’s growing income gap.
“People are calling this a crass attempt to profiteer off a social movement, but that’s not it,” Maresca, a member of Ironworkers Local 361, told the Daily News.
“When I checked, it was available for anyone to trademark. And if I didn’t file, who’s to say who else might have grabbed it? Everybody had a right to it, and it’s important to keep it away from people who would try to use it for negative,” he said.
“I do believe there’s a possibility it could become a global brand. I could maintain control to keep it from someone trying to undercut the 99%,” he said, describing himself as a pro-union, socially liberal independent who likes “to balance my checkbook and not have people telling me how to live my life.”
He said the trademark “isn’t about me getting rich. If it turns into a big moneymaker, I would like some of it to go back to the group.”
Maresca had an annual salary of about $62,000 before his injury. He has three kids, mounting healthcare costs and a wife who just went back to work to support the family, he said.
“She just finished a degree in occupational therapy. If not for that, we would have had to pick up and leave. I was really destined to get smushed,” he said.
He’s now putting the finishing touches on a new order of “Occupy Wall St.” hats and tee shirts in the hope it will help his trademark application and bring in some extra cash.
“Even though I’m a very, very small person, I’m hoping I get it,” he said of his pending application. “Then if the name goes somewhere, I can protect it. It will be up to me to decide what’s right or wrong.”
Maresca isn’t alone in the rush to cash in on the protest movement – he’s not even the first.
A Brooklyn man named Ian McLaughlin filed a trademark application for the phrase “We Are The 99%” on Oct. 7.
McLaughlin used a lawyer and plans to churn out bumper stickers, tote bags, hats, clothing and umbrellas with the social slogan, according to his filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
