KISS frontman and North Texas businessman Gene Simmons wants to trademark the "rock on" hand gesture, the one that looks a lot like a Hook'em Horns sign.
In an application filed June 9 with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Simmons claimed that he first used the gesture commercially in 1974. According to the Hollywood Reporter, a Trademark Office examiner would consider the likelihood of confusion and, possibly whether it's too generic to be associated with Simmons.
Yes, confusion. The gesture is subject to interpretation.
Last month, Houston televangelist Joel Osteen tweeted a photo of his son's college graduation at the University of Texas at Austin. The photo showed father and son flashing the Hook'em horns sign, which prompted Twitter users -- particularly, Osteen followers -- to demand an explanation from Osteen on why he was using a hand signal that is associated with the devil's sign.
Sorry, @genesimmons, Longhorns have been doing 🤘 since the 50s — more than 20 years before KISS got going https://t.co/a4DF8ItizF
— Greg Fenves (@gregfenves) June 15, 2017
The Osteens were participating in a UT tradition that dates back to 1955, when a student noticed that the sign cast a shadow figure that resembled a longhorn, the university mascot.
In Italy and other European countries, the gesture can be interpreted as devil's horns meant to ward off evil. Or, as the New York Post reported, it can also be flashed to a man whose wife is rumored to be cheating on him. It's also an American Sign Language gesture for "I love you."
In Simmons' case, it's in a rock-and-roll context.
The hand signal that he employs has the index and pinkie fingers extended, the middle and ring finger tucked toward the palm and thumb either outward or also curled into the palm. In his application, he prefers his trademark gesture to be with the thumb extended perpendicular. The application also notes the date that he claimed he first used it commercially would have been Nov. 14, 1974, which coincided with Kiss' "Hotter Than Hell" tour.
Simmons might have a battle with the patent office on the gesture. And how would one enforce it?
It's been a staple of rock-and-roll that predates KISS. In 1966, John Lennon is shown on the cover of the Beatles' single, "Yellow Submarine/Eleanor Rigby," flashing the sign. It's also traced to Coven's record cover in 1969 and to Ronnie James Dio, the late rocker who replaced Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath in 1979.
The application has met filing requirements and will be assigned an examining attorney approximately three months after the filing date. The application did not state how Simmons, a businessman who co-owns a Rock & Brews restaurant in The Colony, could cash in if his trademark is accepted.
Just be alert for trademark lawyers when you flash the next "Hook'em" sign.
