U.S. government to seize trademark of illegal motorcyle gang

In an unusual crime-fighting move, the U.S. government has sued an illegal motorcycle club and is planning to take control of their trademark.

The Mongols, which was recently found guilty of federal racketeering, is known to be involved in violent crimes and dealing in methamphetamine and cocaine. Their logo, that of a Genghis Khan-like figure riding a motorcycle beneath the Mongol name, is worn as a patch on the club members’ jackets.

The logo is considered an important part of the gang’s identity, which explains the rationale behind U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien’s plan to seize possession of their trademark and break up the group.

O’Brien first floated the idea in a racketeering sting that caught some 80 of the group's leaders in 2008. All but two of the defendants pleaded guilty in that case, and a judge initially ordered them to forfeit the trademark rights as part of their sentence. But the judge himself reversed the order when he found out none of the people charged in the case actually owned the trademark and therefore could not forfeit it.

Prosecutors tried a new tactic in 2013, when they brought charges against the Mongol Nation itself, the corporate body that owns the trademark. The case went to trial in November and after the win at court, prosecutors can now seek a court order to seize control of the club’s trademarked insignia.

But like big companies that periodically rebrand, The Mongols can also change their logo and name to something else related. Law enforcement officers then cannot stop a Mongol and be authorized to “literally take the jacket right off his back,” like O’Brien said.

It remains to be seen whether this tactic will work, but there is a reverse situation in real life, where a motorcycle gang trademarked its logo in 2010 so as to prevent undercover police officers from infiltrating its ranks.

A police memo soon circulated that infiltrating law enforcement officers could be putting themselves in danger if they did not have the registration symbol at the bottom of the Vagos Motorcycle Club’s patch.