And the battle begin – the Chilean miners phrase

Writer Paul Huneeus not only has registered the phrase ‘ estamos bien en el refugio los 33' (we are well in the refuge the 33) on behalf of miners Ricardo Ojeda Vidal José (reported here)but now the writer has contacted the firm Morales & Besa which specialises in trade mark. The idea, according to Mr Huneeus, is to challenge the petition to register the same phrase as a trade mark. However, it is reported that the firm has not engaged in this matter as yet.

Regarding the miners odyssey, there are another seven applications pending at the Intellectual Property Institute. The parties sought to register the mark are mostly those involved in the trade of wine and spirits, cereals and bread among others. Added to this, there is also the situation with several domain names with either the same or similar phrase.

Mr Huneeus argues that Mr Ojeda has the right to exploit the sentence either with his own business or by granting licenses. Since August 22 (the date the note was written) the Navy has been the only institution that has asked permission to use the phrase in bracelets – permission was granted by Mr Ojeda.

Meanwhile, Francisco Leal Díaz, a newspaper reporter, is ready to launch his book called "Underground: 33 miners who shook the world", by the Editorial Forge. The text has already been registered in the Intellectual Property and is the first book to be published regarding the tragedy and with a happy ending!

More information here and here.