From: patlo@microsoft.com (Pat Loughery)
Subject:  Trademarking Hell's Angels
Date: 06 Jan 93 03:16:49 GMT
Organization: Microsoft Corp.

I picked this up off a "strange news" type alias here at Microsoft:

-- Begin included article -- 

San Jose, California:

For 47 years, the Hells Angels have roared down the
road as the biggest, baddest outlaw motorcycle gang.

But the Oakland, California-based club has a quieter,
law-abiding alter ego: The Hell's Angels Motorcycle
Corporation, an "organization of motorcycle
enthusiasts" and the protective owner of U.S.
registered trademarks for the name "Hells Angels" and
its signature "death-head" logo.

Legendary for brutally punishing imposters who dare don
Hells Angels "color" -- black leather jackets
emblazoned with the club's name and logo -- the outlaw
club is now defending its honor with an unlikely
weapon: the law.

The Hells Angels recently sued Marvel Comics, accusing
it of "getting a free ride" on the bikers' "powerfully
evocative" image with the comic book titled "Hell's
Angel" about a bionic super-heroine.  The Hells Angels
accuse Marvel of unfair competition and damaging the
club's "good will" by deceiving the public into
thinking the bikers endorse the comic book, according
to a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

After the club complained, Marvel changed the comic's
title to "Dark Angel," but continued to call the main
character "Hell's Angel," according to club attorney
Fritz-Howard Clapp.  The club wants a judge to order
all copies destroyed, noting that the lawsuit has made
the $1.75 comic book a collector's item.

What rally burns the Hells Angels: someone making money
off their hard-earned reputation.

Biker chic has turned leather jackets, Harley-Davidson
hogs and other rebel icons into gold.  And the Hells
Angels realize they could cash in on their bad-boy
image.

Clapp said the club has gotten offers to license its
name and logo for everything from biker action figures
to high-fashion clothing or blue jeans.  In the past,
the club has also marketed the name and logo for
posters, stickers, films and recordings.

Sonny Barger, founder and "the chief" of the Hell's
Angels' Oakland chapter, hasn't revealed just how far
the club will go in commercializing its image.  Clapp
said the licensing issue had been up in the air while
Barger served 3 1/2 years in prison for conspiracy to
transport explosives and his recent release could spur
a resolution.

"I'm glad that people like us, and like us enough that
they would want to buy our logo," Barger was quoted as
saying at a party celebrating his release.  "But we
went to jail for it.  And we died for it.  And they
don't have the right to it."

-- End included article --

----------------------------------------------------------------------
            Pat Loughery [patlo@microsoft.com] Seattle, WA
               '91 Nighthawk CB750 - DoD #393, AMA, VME
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"I had no shoes and I pitied myself. Then I met a man who had no feet,
                so I took his shoes."   -- Dave Barry
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles.harley