EDM Promoter Insomniac Is Trying To Trademark PLUR

Insomniac Events, the LA-based promoter of dance-music events like EDC Las Vegas and other festivals, have filed an application to trademark the rave phrase “PLUR,” an acronym that is meant to describe the moral ethos of dance music culture in use since the early ’90s (Peace, Love, Unity, Respect). According to Billboard, Insomniac filed on February 10 with the US Patent And Trade Office. Owned by Live Nation, Insomniac apparently wants to use the phrase on a new clothing line. As one Redditor commented, “That’s not very PLUR of them.”

It’ll be an uphill battle to trademark PLUR. As Billboard notes, the application has not yet been granted by the USPTO, and cultural catchphrases and other “widely used messages” cannot be registered on trademarks on the grounds that consumers don’t associate them with one brand or company. Even if Insomniac were granted the trademark, they would not “own” the word outright or stop someone else from using the word in other contexts.