Reply #14: Gov baby brother!® Bush tried it [View All]

[soup]

April 5, 2002

Bush seeks trademark on name
He wants third-party groups to stop capitalizing on his name

By Paige St. John
Gannett News Service

TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Jeb Bush says he'll trademark his name in order to stop a Miami-based organization from using it to raise money against Janet Reno.
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The object of his ire is Americans for Jeb Bush, an independent political committee run by some of the same people behind similar fund-raising attacks against Hillary Clinton. Its organizer was unabashed Thursday about continuing the campaign.
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The Bush-Brogan 2002 campaign followed suit by preparing to file trademark applications at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the phrases "Bush-Brogan 2002," "Jeb Bush for Governor," and "Jeb!"
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An individual's actual name cannot be trademarked, but Bush attorneys hope roping off the governor's slogans will prevent other groups from using the Bush name to raise money. It will not bar groups from using Bush's name in political activism -- that is protected speech under the U.S. Constitution.
http://www.floridacapitalnews.com/legislature/stories/020405mudbush.html