In recent years, far-right merchandise has become an important source of income for some right-wing extremist groups and individuals in Germany. Online stores sell clothing, accessories and other products that use symbols to identify members of the far-right scene.
Since many overtly Nazi symbols are illegal in Germany, sellers have begun to rely on coded language to avoid the law. Hitler becomes HTLR, while Swastika (Swastika) is the acronym of HKNKRZ.
But the campaign “Recht gegen Rechts” (Rights Against the Right) has found a clever way to deal with this legal solution. They take control of Nazi-related symbols, coded extremist phrases and names of far-right businesses by registering them as trademarks at the European Trademark Office.
The campaign was launched in 2021 by German creative agency Jung von Matt in collaboration with Hamburg-based non-profit Lott gegen Nazis (Noise Against Nazis).
If extremist retailers continue to sell products bearing the newly protected names or phrases without permission, they could face legal action for infringement – including compensation for each item sold.
How registered trademarks stopped far-right merchandise
“These online shops aren’t in the darknet; they’re out there online. You just have to find the right URL,” explains Simon Knittel of Jung von Matt.
However, for people outside the remote landscape, stores are not easy to find. The team received help from Jörn Menge, founder of Noise Against Nazis (Laut gegen Nazis), as well as Philipp Schlaffer, a former neo-Nazi and online shop owner who is now a speaker and activist against far-right extremism.
“Basically, you can find these shops if you know what keywords to enter. Many of them are now located overseas,” Schlaffer told DW. “It’s becoming a global business where a lot of money is changing hands.”
The team identified over 35 online stores with over 1,000 articles in each store and then determined which trademarks would be most effective. For Schlaffer, the campaign’s approach is both creative and effective.
“Neo-Nazis should not feel like they have a safe haven; they should fear that the ideas they have – the ones they are selling – could be taken away from them and the products would need to be taken offline. This takes away their sense of security,” he said.
In fact, after the first trademark was secured, the team saw it in action.
Knittel reported, “When we published our initial press release that we had registered a trademark, it only took 30 minutes, and the trademark was removed by all the online shops. We didn’t have to do anything.” “They did it willingly because they knew we really had something against them and we didn’t want to lose the court case.”
Each subsequent trademark received a similar response: the items were immediately taken offline.
“In the end, we only had to wait 10 minutes, not 30. That was proof to us that we found something that really solves the problem,” Knittel said.
Germany’s strict attitude towards Nazi symbols
Germany’s approach to Nazi imagery reflects the country’s history and its efforts to prevent the revival of National Socialism. Under section 86a of the German Criminal Code, displaying or distributing symbols of unconstitutional organizations is generally prohibited. This includes symbols associated with the Nazi Party, such as the swastika, the SS symbol, and the Nazi salute, except in educational contexts or research and historical documentation.
Violations may result in fines or even imprisonment. Germany has the strictest approach to extremist symbolism anywhere in the world.
Turning racist code into anti-fascist business
Rights Against the Right has also taken this a step further by turning neo-Nazi slogans into satirical anti-Nazi merchandise.
The campaign secured the trademarks and web domain of Druk18, a major online seller of neo-Nazi merchandise run by far-right extremist Tommy Frank.
The store sold products with extremist and xenophobic messages, including items designed to appeal to Nazi nostalgia. Law Against Law replaced it with its own online shop, which sells anti-Nazi and anti-racism merchandise.
In the new Druk 18 online shop, you can buy a sweatshirt bearing the words HKN KRZ, which is an abbreviation of the swastika in German, including the crossed out words and the text: “Thanks to trademark law: We registered this Nazi code as a trademark so that Nazis couldn’t spread it.”
The new trademark is legally required to be used commercially within five years, so the team had to get creative. “We had to find a way to make [these Nazi codes] Commercially available without contributing to any Nazi scandal or anything like that. So, we turned them upside down and wrote them on the shirt,” Knittel said.
Challenges in Registering a Trademark
The campaign has acquired six trademarks and is in the process of acquiring more.
“It’s quite complicated – it takes up to six months to get a trademark registered and costs €1,600 ($1,823) – and you never know if you’ll actually be able to get it registered,” Knittel said. The campaign relies entirely on donations to finance its operations. Jung Von Matt works completely free of charge.
Harassment in the form of hate mail, emails has become common, and the campaign is currently looking for name donors, as each trademark needs to be registered under a person’s name.
The campaign is also involved in a lawsuit with original Drunk 18 owner Tommy Frank. He sought a court order to stop him from using the shop’s name, but lost at both first instance and appeal.
And some code used by neo-Nazis may not be protected by trademark law in the first place. “So, there are still codes out there that we can’t defend against,” Knittel explained. “But in the end, the goal was to create awareness in both the public and political spheres that these codes exist.”
And that’s something that Right Against the Right has definitely done – one trademark at a time.
Edited by: Elizabeth Grenier