The ALS Association’s “ice bucket challenge” gained tremendous popularity via the social media. Friends, family members, acquaintances and sometimes even strangers challenged each other on social media such as Facebook, by recording an act of drenching themselves with an ice-cold bucket of water, and thereby making a pledge to donate towards ALS research. As such, the popularity helped the Association raised more than $94 million in less than a month towards finding a cure for ALS, colloquially known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
The Association is seeking federal trademark registration for the mark “ice bucket challenge” and also “ALS ice bucket challenge”. The ALS Association says it “took steps to trademark the Ice Bucket Challenge after seeing many examples of unscrupulous profiteers trying to drive revenue to themselves, instead of fight against ALS. We secured the blessing of the families who initiated the challenge, which they provided without hesitation.”