ALS Association Seeks to Trademark “Ice Bucket Challenge”
October 1, 2014
The “ALS ice bucket challenge” has been nothing less than a spectacular fundraising success, helping the ALS Association raise more than $94 million in less than one month. On the heels of such success, the ALS association is now seeking to trademark the phrases “ice bucket challenge” and “ALS ice bucket challenge,” after scammers have attempted to profit by wrongful use of the phrases.
Questions have been raised by the legal community in connection with these trademark applications, including if the ALS Association was the first to use the phrases and whether the phrases themselves could already be too generic to be trademarked. The decision to grant the trademarks is now pending with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.