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Posted on 04/04/2004 8:52:04 PM PDT by chance33_98
Hells Angels Target Students' Logo Use
HELSINKI, Finland -- When graduating from a high school called "Hellu," wearing a class shirt that reads "Hellus Angels" might seem like harmless school spirit -- unless it's worn in a bar where Hells Angels members have strong feelings about trademark infringement.
After a student at the Helsinki school was pressured to hand over the shirt to two bikers at a local bar, the school received a request to collect all the remaining shirts and forfeit them to the Finland chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle club, the Finnish newspaper Iltalehti said Friday.
The motorcycle club took offense at the use of its "Deathshead" logo, a winged, helmet-wearing skull. The organization claims a trademark on the logo registered to the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corp.
The school promptly agreed with the Hells Angels and is collecting the shirts from its students, admitting the biker group had a strong case.
"This is clearly a stolen logo. It's just a matter of thoughtlessness on the part of the kids," deputy headmaster Eeva-Riitta Mustelin was quoted as saying, adding that the bikers did not want to go to court over the matter.
Ha....they would have fired a surface/air missile into the school....as was done at a biker gang feud in Scandinavia last year.
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