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    Half Tones

    Retailer Tries to Trademark WeChat’s Facepalm Emoji

    Sep 14, 2018

    A clothing retailer has applied to trademark WeChat’s most popular emoji: the versatile facepalm.

    According to Shangyou News, the Zhejiang-based company filed the application with the central trademark office in November 2017 — but only last month did the window for third parties to dispute the claim open. The company hopes to legally use the iconic image on 25 categories of clothing items, including T-shirts, shoes, ties, and baby clothes. A spokesperson for Tencent, WeChat’s parent company, told the paper that they plan to dispute the application on the grounds of copyright infringement.

    Though once lax in China, enforcement of trademarks and copyrights has grown stricter in recent years, with cases involving fonts, songs, TV drama plots, and even plagiarism databases all making headlines. (Image: WeChat)