Eternal businessman Gene Simmons really likes to put his band name on any product that’ll sit still long enough, but he’s taking it a step further with this one, as he attempts to trademark a hand gesture he claims he invented.
The problem is that the hand gesture in question was not only used by various people in the media well before he ever set foot on a stage, but it’s also widely used by a significant portion of the wider community: the deaf.
While the hand gesture might seem familiar to most people as the one used by Spiderman when he shoots a web, as VVN points out, the hand position is also the American Sign Language sign that means “I love you” – so maybe Gene should be pointing his hand in his own direction instead.
Interestingly, Simmons’ ‘trademark’ hand gesture looks like he’s throwing up the ubiquitous rock staple the ‘devils horns’ at first, until you notice the thumb sticking out at the side. That little thumb apparently makes all the difference to Simmons, to the point that he feels the need to trademark it after decades in the business.
He even recalls the exact date he supposedly first used it: November 14th, 1974, but as VVN notes, one John Lennon can be seen using it on the cover of Yellow Submarine back in 1966 – albeit backwards. Meanwhile, Simmons’ first use of the gesture in a similar fashion was on the cover of Love Gun over a decade later.
Thankfully, he’s at least only applying for the trademark in the context of “entertainment, namely, live performances by a musical artist; personal appearances by a musical artist,” so it’s only rockers with wayward thumbs who need fear the wrath of The Demon if he gets this over the line, rather than the hearing impaired.
We’d cross our fingers that he gets knocked back, but he might try to claim that one too.
