- According to the WIPO website, Formula One has applied to trademark the "Shoey" in the US, Singapore, Malaysia, Mexico and Australia.
- The Aussie practice of drinking alcohol out of a worn shoe is usually done in celebration.
- The unusual tradition hit the global stage after Red Bull racing champion Daniel Ricciardo adopted it to celebrate his victories on the podium.
Formula One has trademarked the "shoey."
Yep. One of the biggest motoring organisations in the world has taken out trademark, published on the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) website, on the Aussie custom of drinking alcohol out of a worn shoe, usually in celebration.
According to the WIPO website, Formula One has applied for trademarks in the US, Singapore, Malaysia, Mexico, Australia, and the countries that make up the Benelux Union: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
The trademark relates to anything from flasks, glasses, bottles, mugs, sculptures and figurines, to shoes, shirts, shorts, caps and motorists' clothing.
The shoey hit the global stage after Red Bull racing champ Daniel Ricciardo adopted the tradition to celebrate his victories on the podium.
When asked at the Spanish Grand Prix about the F1 trademarking his so-called trademark, he said, "I don't know what that means. Can I still do it or are they going to fine me every time?
"I'll take my helmet up there and do a 'Helmety' or something. I'll find out more about that. Hopefully they're not trying to stitch me up."
Australian MotoGP rider Jack Miller celebrated his first in Holland with a shoey in June 2016 and five weeks later, when Ricciardo came second in the German Grand Prix in his 100th race, he too went all-out Aussie.
Shoey 🤘🏼 #strayapic.twitter.com/chZiauXzqY
— Daniel Ricciardo (@danielricciardo) July 31, 2016
It turned into his signature celebration with every podium finish.
The race to gain control of the term in Australia appears to have begun in mid-2017 when Korinne Harrington, who's believed to a relative of the Harrington twins of the surfing-fishing-clothing empire The Mad Hueys applied to IP Australia to trademark for clothing.
The Harringtons are credited as making it part of surf culture in the early 2000s.
Miller paid tribute to the Mad Hueys with his 2016 shoey.
Harrington's application was granted last November and registered in January this year.
Formula One Licensing B.V. in the Netherlands followed with its application last August, mopping up the leftovers such as glassware, beer mugs, bottle openers, sugar bowls, sculptures, coasters and glassware. Approval was registered three weeks after Harrington.
The Australian Grand Prix Corporation joined the race last week, basically wanted to trademark shoey for anything else made by humans, ranging from USB flash drives to fridge magnets, "printed matter" including postcards, trading cards, coasters, paper napkins and bumper stickers, as well as bags, precious metals, including jewellery, bedsheets, games, toys and even "lace and embroidery, ribbons and braid."
A preliminary determination is due in October.
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