SEPTEMBER 20--With dead bodies still floating in the streets of New Orleans, a pair of Louisiana lawyers are seeking to cash in on the killer hurricane by slapping the name Katrina on alcoholic beverages. In a new filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Andrew Vicknair and Harold Ehrenberg provided federal officials with a logo--reproduced above--bearing the word Katrina, the phrase "Get Blown Away," and a small satellite image of the deadly storm. The trademark application was filed on September 4, just six days after the hurricane slammed into the Gulf Coast, killing more than 1000 residents and leaving thousands homeless. The filing by Vicknair, 31, and the 47-year-old Ehrenberg--both of whom are graduates of New Orleans-based Loyola University's law school--does not detail what kind of booze products will bear the Katrina name. But it's a safe bet that these wannabe profiteers are plotting some variation on The Hurricane, the Bourbon Street staple. According to their trademark application, Vicknair (pictured top left) and Ehrenberg (pictured bottom left) operate from an office in Metarie, Louisiana, a New Orleans suburb that suffered heavy hurricane damages. The property, which apparently was not flooded during the storm, also houses Ehrenberg's chiropractic office. A beta version of his web site includes a picture of "Dr. Harold" sandwiched between the words "Attorney" and "Chiropractor." The graphic also includes a series of six roman columns, three of which are actually human spines. (4 pages)
What is it about American ingenuity and a national tragedy?
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