Taking on Neo-Nazis, One Trademark at a Time

The public display of Nazi symbols and slogans has long been banned in Germany, and yet with a few mouse clicks it is easy enough for someone there to buy a T-shirt glorifying Hitler for about 25 euros, or nearly $30, plus tax and shipping.Online stores that trade in such merchandise have found creative ways of skirting the letter of Germany’s strict hate speech laws, for example by omitting vowels (“HTLR”) or by using “88” as a winking shorthand for “Heil Hitler” (H is the eighth letter of the alphabet).A German advertising agency found the growth of those shops objectionable and came up with the idea for a campaign to put them out of business.If it succeeds, the “HTLR” T-shirt that is easiest to find will have a poop emoji separating those letters and the letter “I” to their left, giving it a snarky and emphatically anti-Nazi spin.Recht Gegen Rechts, or Rights Against the Right, is taking aim at retailers that profit from the sale of pro-Nazi merchandise by moving to secure trademarks from the European Union’s intellectual property office for some Nazi symbols and coded phrases.

The idea is that, by obtaining those rights, it can go after shops that sell items bearing right-wing slogans and phrases on the grounds of trademark infringement.“Taking their money is the best way,” said Philip Schlaffer, a former neo-Nazi who profited from the sale of such merchandise for years.He now advises Rights Against the Right, which was started in 2021 by a German advertising agency, Jung von Matt, in partnership with a nonprofit in Hamburg called Laut Gegen Nazis, or Noise Against Nazis.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

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