Well bless their Hooah! hearts!
I had started to make some designs for t-shirts and canvas bags a while back. Of all the military events I have attended, and military supply stores I have graced, I have yet to find a shirt that has a dual role stated on it. All of the goods either say Army Wife or Army Mom. What if you are both? I am finding that there are several of us dual role women out there, so I thought it would be fun to take the name of my blog, and use my signature faded boot, and make a shirt. I would use the tag line “One Hooah! is never enough!”
So, I uploaded my graphics. My custom made, personalized graphics. Guess what? I was told that the word Hooah! has been trademarked! It is not trademarked by the military either! I couldn’t believe it! How can such a common phrase be hailed as someone’s “intellectual property?”
Now, I understand trademarking a phrase like “Knee Deep in the Hooah!” As a matter of fact before I named my blog I intentionally searched the Federal Trademark database, and searched the web in case someone had an informal trademark on it. Nothing. No hits at all. So, it’s mine! I can fully understand that. However, trademarking the term “Hooah!” is insane to me. That is like trademarking the word “hello!” I was told that I could not make any t-shirts with my blog name on them. Great.
Maybe I can find an alternative — how about “Knee Deep in the Who? Ah!” or “Knee Deep in Shoe La” or “Knee Deep in the Shangri la?” Those just don’t have the same ring to them, and the connotations are definitely different. Hm. “Knee Deep in the Army” is no fun, and “Knee Deep in IT” is to close to “Knee Deep in (something that rhymes with ‘IT’, but this is a family friendly blog)”
If you have any ideas I am gladly taking suggestions.
Knee Deep in the Army? One Soldier is Never Enough!
I like “One soldier is never enough!” Although people might think that I am advocating for military polygamy! :p
I do think that Knee Deep in the Army is going to be on it for sure!
Ah man. That’s a bummer. I cannot think of anything right off the top of my head. If I come up with something I will let you know.
I am curious to know who trademarked the Hooah? That is so crazy.
Thanks BFW. Of all the things in the world to be trademarked! :p
Cavmom, I will have to go back through my emails and let you know. I can’t remember the guy now, but he makes t-shirts too. The funny thing is I know that there is more than one company that makes t-shirts that say “hooah!” on them. So, I am not sure why I was nailed and others are not. Regardless I respect the law, so I won’t make the shirts. Now, I can keep my blog name — just not on a t-shirt!
I can’t think of anything…still laughing at Knee Deep in Shangri La
That’s terrible!
hmmm, silly suggestion - perhaps another ‘O’ to it? As in Hoooah? It may take another breath to say it, but it’s in the same verbal ballpark… :-)
Hopefully, no one has trademarked Hoooah, Hooooah, Hoo….you get the idea.
grins and completely unhelpfully,
-piper
It’s piper - again. I just had a thought….if it is for non-commercial use, I am not sure there would be an issue? Have you tried Cafepress? We use it to print up T-Shirts for the Breast Cancer 3-Day. http://www.cafepress.com/
btw, I believe the HooAH! bar is a sort of energy bar made by the Military originally tossed into MRE’s.
So ‘Hooha’ is trademarked? Hmmmm
Ok-how about “Knee Deep-Heart Stong”
or “Knee Deep and Lovin’ It” or
“Knee Deep & Army Proud”.
That’s what comes to mind!
Hope the shin splints have improved.
Have a fabulous weekend!!
Safe travels,
Cathy B
Off the top of my head?
Knee deep in the Shi ite.
I DID say it was spontaneous didn’t I? ;)
Trip - I loved that one too! ;p
Piper, believe it or not, but CafePress is the place that took my stuff offline. I guess the dude that has has the trademark saw my stuff and complained. The funny thing is there are a bunch of other people doing military stuff, and I saw they were all using “hooah!” I think the name of my store gave me away though — I named it after my blog. I like some of the suggestions that I getting. I am going to have to back up and give ‘em a try!
Cathy — those are great! I love “Knee Deep and Army Proud!” or “Knee Deep and Army Strong!” Cool. Thanks for the suggestions!
Auntybrat, That one takes the prize! :p Priceless!!
Thought about ‘Army Strong’, but since that was the theme of their big advertising campaign, I figured that would be trademarked also!!
Auntybrat hit the nail on the head-excellent!
Cathy B
Cathy — we are on the same wavelenth I think! I thought about that last night. I wonder if I could contact someone with the Army to see if it is OK to use it in that context and without the Army logo. It is a positive message for the Army, so it’s like free advertising! :)
Glad you liked it - imagine what else you could do with the Sunni - ooooooooh not even going to go there at this time of night but let your mind run…..Okay - just one: Join the Army for sunni days ahead…
I know I know - baaaaaaaaaaad.. I DID say it was late…But could be a BIG seller among the troops in Iraq. Think of the funds raised to help the kids.;) Oh and if you go with My Shi ite? Do I get a t shirt out of it? lol
cavmom:
The origin of “HOOAH” has several theories:
“Former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan has his interpretation. “I don’t know how exactly to spell it, but I know what it means,” Sullivan said. “It means we have broken the mold. We are battle focused. Hooah says Look at me. I’m a warrior. I’m ready. Sergeants trained me to standard. I serve America every day, all the way.’”
On theory is that the word originated with the Second Dragoons in Florida as “hough” in 1841. In an attempt to end the war with the Seminoles, a meeting was arranged with the Indian Chief Coacoochee. After the meeting, there was a banquet.
Garrison officers made a variety of toasts, including “Here’s to luck” and “The old grudge” before drinking. Coacoochee asked Gopher John, an interpreter, the meaning of the officers’ toasts. Gopher John responded, “It means, “How d’ye do.’”
The chief then lifted his cup above his head and exclaimed in a deep, guttural voice, “hough.”
Another theory is that during the Vietnam War many American soldiers used Vietnamese and Vietnamese-French expressions interchangeably with English.
One widely used term was the Vietnamese word for “yes,” which is pronounced “u-ah.” When assigned a task or asked a question, soldiers would often answer with “u-ah.” This term — used for many years after the war by many soldiers, is easily changed to “hooah.”
There are dozens of stories circulating about the etymology of hooah. A popular story among Army Rangers is the following account:
On D-Day, 1944, on Omaha Beach, near the sea cliffs at Point Du Hoc, General Cota, the 29th Division Assistant Division Commander, jogged down the beach toward a group of Rangers from the 2nd Ranger Battalion, and asked, “Where’s your commanding officer?” They pointed him out and said, “Down there, sir.”
General Cota reportedly followed their direction and, on his way down the beach, said, “Lead the way, Rangers!”
The Rangers from 2nd Bat reportedly said, “WHO, US!?” General Cota thought he heard them say “HOOAH!” He was so impressed with their cool and calm demeanor, not to mention their cool term, hooah, he decided to make it a household name.”
Source: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/jointservices/a/hooah.htm