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Climate activist Greta Thunberg said Wednesday she's applied to trademark her name and that of the international school strike movement she inspired, a move meant to protect the movement from misuse for commercial purposes.
In an Instagram post, the 17-year-old Swede
said that she and fellow activists have "absolutely no interests" in
trademarks "but unfortunately it needs to be done."
She tweeted a link to the Instagram post:
Statement on impostors, trademarks etc:https://t.co/TGV5zeUuT8
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) January 29, 2020
Thunberg
said the application covers her name, the name of the Fridays for
Future movement, and "Skolstrejk för klimatet" (Swedish for "School
strike for climate"), which was the slogan on a sign she held during the
weekly solo protests outside Sweden's parliament that inspired similar
actions by other young people.
Thunberg said trademark protection
is needed because her name and that of the movement "are constantly
being used for commercial purposes without any consent whatsoever."
"It
happens, for instance, in marketing, selling of products and people
collecting money in my and the movement's name," she wrote.
She
said that registering the trademarks was also required to receive pro
bono legal assistance in taking action act against people or companies
that try to use her name and the name of Fridays for Future for purposes
that aren't in line with the movement's goals.
"Fridays For
Future is a global movement founded by me," Thunberg said. "It belongs
to anyone taking part in it, above all the young people. It can - and
must -- not be used for individual or commercial purposes."
Thunberg
said that she and her family also are setting up a nonprofit foundation
to transparently handle money from such things as book royalties,
donations and prizes.
The foundation's aim "will be to promote ecological, climatic and social sustainability as well as mental health," she wrote.
Source:cbsnews.com
Editor:Vapor