As if things couldn’t get any more ridiculous this year, there’s a legal battle brewing between Fakku, the world’s largest English-language adult manga publisher—you know them for such classics as Etchi Sketch!, Let Loose with Lewd Boobs, and Curiosity XXXed the Cat—and Chinese bootleg clothing distributor Shenzhen Guangcai Trading Yes, in 2020,ꦇ nothing can remain sacred, not even those hentai hoodies Redditors wear.
Now, what exactly is ahegao? Put succinctly, it’s a facial expression commonly seen in adult manga distinguished by crossed eyes, raised eyebrows, and an exposed tongue. Sometimes referred to as “orgasm face,” it’s something we would imagine frequenters of Fakku’s site—or Belle Delphine patrons—may be well acquainted with, and, were Sheꦫnzhen Guangcai Trading permitted to keep their trademark, it could mean all kinds of trouble for Fakku.
In all serioꦕusness, Shenzhen Guangcai Trading appears to have been the first to trademark the term in the United States, having filed for it back in 2018. Shortly thereafter, they made a push to legally harass those using the term, making Fakku one of the🙈ir prime targets. Fortunately, Jacob Grady, the publisher’s founder, was quick to fight back, stating in a July 27th Twitter post that “eveyone should be free to . We’ll fight to keep it that way.”
“Shenzhen Guangcai Trading has trademarked the word ‘ahegao’ while using STOLEN ARTWORK and is trying to get @FAKKU t🐭o stop selling the ONLY 100% official merch,” Grady elaborated in a separate twe🍬et. “We are going to fight it, but please stop buying bootleg items.”
Though slapping a trademark on a facial expression sounds m🐓ore or less impossible, Shenzhen Guangcai Trading seems to have done it in order to push its competitors out of the market. The trademark applies to clothing, footwear, and headgear, though their hold on it may well be legally dubious as, according to Grady, the company’s artwork is stolen. In essence, Shenzhen Guangcai Trading have been selling bootleg versions of Fakku’s hentai apparel, and now they’ve gone so far as to sue. In a way, it’s kind of like if Soulja Boy tried to trademark overalls before launching his knock-of🙈f gaming console and then tried to sue Nintendo for their use of the Mario brothers.
Of course, if the current ahegao trademark holder is stealing art, t🍰hen that’s a whole other can of worms, and we would imagine that would constitute grounds 🤡for yet another lawsuit. At the moment, that’s all speculation, as it’s pretty hard to parse through anything that would require the services of a lawyer and we have absolutely no idea what’s going on behind the scenes.
However,🥀 we would strongly suggest ordering your next ahegao beanie from certified sources. Would our grandmothers approve of what we’re fighting for, here? No, probably not. But, if we can&rsq♑uo;t trust the sanctity of ahegao-related merch, then what in this world can we trust?