The United States Navy has made it very clear that it owns everything to do with the Osama bin Laden wipeout—and it wiped
the floor clean with the Walt Disney Co's application, made on May 3, two days after bin Laden was dusted, to trademark the
phrase 'SEAL Team 6'. Last heard, Disney had quietly withdrawn its application from the US Patent and Trademark Office.
The glower that the US Navy brought to bear on it must have been something to see. The Patent Office has always wilted before Disney's clout, handing over rights to Disney subsidiary ABC for shows such as NCIS and JAG, both real-life Navy units. The patent application for 'SEAL Team 6' covered everything possibly marketable, including "[t]oys, games and playthings; gymnastic and sporting articles (except clothing); hand-held units for playing electronic games other than those adapted for use with an external display screen or monitor; Christmas stockings; Christmas tree ornaments and decorations; snow globes [c]lothing, footwear and headwear".
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