World Trademark Review (Tim Lince),:
WTR has learned that the EU filed a trademark application on behalf of a Ukrainian warship’s border guard for the phrase they used during their standoff. As reports surface of Russian rogue trademark applications, major brands have been targeted while international opportunists file for terms related the the military conflict.
Russian Navy vessel asked that thirteen Ukrainian border guards from Snake Island be surrendered at the end last month. Instead of giving themselves up, the 13 soldiers went viral for telling the Russian warship to “go f*ck yourself”. Initial reports suggested the soldiers died after the Russian warship bombarded the island. Later, this was refuted. The actions of the men received global coverage and plaudits, and this week the Ukrainian government even announced a postage stamp representing the phrase.
WTR has learned that the soldier who uttered the ‘f*ck yourself’ phrase – with permission obtained from his family and the Ukrainian military – is seeking an EU trademark for the term (in both Cyrillic script and English). It was filed yesterday by Taras Kulbaba, founder and lawyer at Bukovnik & Kulbaba, and covers a variety of goods and services from clothing and bags to entertainment and NFTs.
It appears that the European mark has the vulgarities exurgated. I cannot speak for the European trademark law as to whether this would include the unexpurgated version. The original phrase was “go on to the dick”, but the translation “go fist yourself” works well. Russian vulgarity (and I believe Ukrainian), “dick” is much more prominent that it is in American English. It is therefore entitled to its own volume. Dictionary of Russian Vulgar Slang.)
You can also see the American trademark application. It has the word “fuck”, which is implied to be by a company unrelated the soldiers. Recall, trademark law does not focus on the source of any particular mark.