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Greta Thunberg to trademark her name and Fridays for Future to tackle 'imposters'

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By Rachael Kennedy
The Swedish teeanger founded the Fridays for Future movement
The Swedish teeanger founded the Fridays for Future movement   -  Copyright  Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved   -   Markus Schreiber

Greta Thunberg has applied to trademark her own name and that of her Fridays for Future movement, according to an Instagram post from the 17-year-old.

The Swedish activist — who founded the global campaign that inspired thousands of students and adults to take part in weekly protests calling for swifter action to tackle climate change — said the trademark would stop "imposters" and would help in her launching her new non-profit foundation.

"Unfortunately there are still people who are trying to impersonate me or falsely claim that they 'represent' me in order to communicate with high-profile people, politicians, media, artists etc," she wrote.

"Please be aware that this is happening and be extremely suspicious if you are contacted by ”me” or someone saying they 'represent' me.

"I apologise to anyone who has been contacted — and even misled — by this kind of behaviour."

View this post on Instagram

Impostors, trademarks, commercial interests, royalties and foundation... First: Unfortunately there are still people who are trying to impersonate me or falsely claim that they "represent" me in order to communicate with high profile people, politicians, media, artists etc. Please be aware that this is happening and be extremely suspicious if you are contacted by ”me” or someone saying they ”represent” me. I apologize to anyone who has been contacted - and even misled - by this kind of behavior. Second: My name and the #FridaysForFuture movement are constantly being used for commercial purposes without any consent whatsoever. It happens for instance in marketing, selling of products and people collecting money in my and the movement’s name. That is why I’ve applied to register my name, Fridays For Future, Skolstrejk för klimatet etc as trademarks. This action is to protect the movement and its activities. It is also needed to enable my pro bono legal help to take necessary action against people or corporations etc who are trying to use me and the movement in purposes not in line with what the movement stands for. I assure you, I and the other school strikers have absolutely no interests in trademarks. But unfortunately it needs to be done. Fridays For Future is a global movement founded by me. It belongs to anyone taking part in it, above all the young people. It can - and must - not be used for individual or commercial purposes. And third: together with my family I’m setting up a foundation. It’s already registered and existing, but it not is not yet up and running. This is strictly nonprofit of course and there are no interests in philanthropy. It is just something that is needed for handling money (book royalties, donations, prize money etc) in a completely transparent way. For instance, taxes have to be paid before we can give them away to specified purposes and charities. This takes a lot of time and work, and when the foundation is fully up and running I will tell you more. The foundation’s aim will be to promote ecological, climatic and social sustainability as well as mental health. Love/ Greta

A post shared by Greta Thunberg (@gretathunberg) on

Speaking about the trademarks, she added: "This action is to protect the movement and its activities.

"It is also needed to enable my pro bono legal help to take necessary action against people or corporations etc who are trying to use me and the movement in purposes not in line with what the movement stands for.

"I assure you, I and the other school strikers have absolutely no interests in trademarks. But, unfortunately, it needs to be done.

"Fridays For Future is a global movement founded by me. It belongs to anyone taking part in it, above all the young people. It can - and must - not be used for individual or commercial purposes."

The teenager went on to say she had also begun setting up a not-for-profit foundation to handle money she receives from book royalties, donations and prize money "in a completely transparent way".

She added: "The foundation’s aim will be to promote ecological, climatic and social sustainability as well as mental health."

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The post came just over a week after Thunberg made an appearance at the World Economic Forum, where she warned that "inaction was fuel to the flames of climate change".

At the event, she also made an impression on Prince Charles, who went on to say the 17-year-old was "remarkable".

He said: "She represents one of the main reasons why I've been trying to make all this effort all these years because, as I said, I didn't want my grandchildren to accuse me of not doing something about this in time and of course there they are."