The Hamburg initiative “Loud against Nazis” has secured the trademark rights to the abbreviation “enness”, which is popular among right-wing extremists. This means that it can no longer be printed on clothing, for example.
The Hamburg-based initiative “Loud against Nazis” has secured the rights to the abbreviation “enness” from the European trademark office. Right-wing extremists like to print this on T-shirts, trousers or sweaters. “Enness” is phonetic and stands for NS – and thus for National Socialism. Clothing with this print is among the bestsellers in relevant online shops, said the association’s chairman Jörn Menge.
But that is now over. “Shops will soon have to remove the goods that have the abbreviation ‘enness’ printed on them from the internet or destroy them, otherwise they will face legal proceedings and fines. If these are not paid, they will even be imprisoned.”
Stop right-wing propaganda
By securing the trademark rights, the association wants to prevent the spread of right-wing propaganda. In October 2023, “Laut gegen Nazis” had already secured the trademark rights to the letter combination VTR LND. The abbreviation stands for fatherland. By omitting vowels, right-wing extremists could legally use terms publicly that are prominent in the scene.
Overall, there are around 100 of these relevant codeswhich are used in the right-wing extremist scene and which are not yet protected by trademark law. The sale of these printed shirts brings a lot of money into the coffers of the neo-Nazi scene. In order to secure further trademark rights to right-wing extremist codes, the association is dependent on further donations. A trademark registration costs around 1,600 euros. A corresponding appeal can be found on the donation platform “Betterplace.org”.