A local Mississippi man filed an application with the U.S Patent and Trademark office to trademark the word “nigga.”
Curtis Bordenave, a black business owner, submitted the application in June after deciding that a black man should be able to define how the word is used, reports the Commercial Dispatch.
“Our vision for the brand is not to disparage people, but to change the narrative and the meaning of the word,” Bordenave said. “Products were sold with that name on it many years ago, and to say we can’t change the meaning of that word is not really accurate.”
Bordenave owns Better Moves Consulting, a business that tries to promote equality and unity through clothing and other products. He hopes that by branding “nigga,” he can also use the word to promote unity. He filed the patent after the Supreme Court ruled in June that the federal government does not have the authority to prevent people from patenting offensive names. Bordenave has tried in the past to trademark “nigga,” by filing two separate patents: one for “nig” and the other for “gga.” “Nig” failed.
Bordenave wants to use “nigga” on a broad range of products like perfume, makeup, DVDs, clothes, drinks, books etc. He applied for numerous products so the word wouldn’t be misused.
“We just wanted to make sure that this word didn’t fall into the wrong hands,” Bordenave said. “We understand that it’s going be acquired because there’s multiple applications after me, and God forbid if someone got it.”
The application is currently in the review process, Bordenave explained, adding that it could take a year for it to get approved.
A head of the Lowndes County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People denounced Bordenave’s attempt to trademark the word.
“We buried that word years ago in Detroit, Michigan,” she said. “I know it might not be a point that we can’t stop him, but we will not support it and we will do what we can to protest against.”
Still, Bordenave insists that a trademarked “nigga” can do good for the community.
” To keep it locked away gives it power to the individuals who utter it for negative use,” he said. “But when we define the word clearly, and we give it a powerful strong meaning, then now when you put it on the shirt, we want people to think about the message.”
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