German Group Legally Hijacks Neo-Nazi Symbols for Good

When neo-Nazis in Germany started coding swastikas as "HKNKRZ" to sell merchandise online, one creative team found a brilliant legal workaround. They're beating extremists at their own game by trademarking their symbols first.

The campaign "Rights Against the Right" launched in 2021 when creative agency Jung von Matt partnered with nonprofit Noise against Nazis. Their strategy is simple but effective: register Nazi-related phrases, coded extremist language, and far-right business names as official trademarks at the European trademark office.

Once trademarked, any extremist retailer using those symbols without permission faces legal action and compensation payments. The results came faster than anyone expected.

"When we published our initial press release, it only took about 30 minutes, and the trademark was taken down by all the online shops," explains Simon Knittel of Jung von Matt. "We didn't have to do anything." With each new trademark, the response time got shorter, dropping to just 10 minutes as word spread through the far-right community.

The team identified more than 35 online stores, each stocking over 1,000 extremist items. They received guidance from Philip Schlaffer, a former neo-Nazi shop owner turned anti-extremism activist.

"Neo-Nazis shouldn't feel like they have a safe haven," Schlaffer told reporters. "They should be afraid that the ideas they're selling might be taken away from them." That loss of security is exactly what makes the campaign work.

The Ripple Effect

The campaign's impact extends beyond just removing merchandise. The team seized control of Druck18, a major neo-Nazi online store run by far-right extremist Tommy Frenck, by trademarking both the name and web domain.

Now that same store sells anti-Nazi and anti-racist merchandise instead. You can buy sweatshirts featuring "HKN KRZ" (the coded swastika abbreviation) with the letters crossed out and replaced with "No thanks."

The profits from this hijacked merchandise now fund anti-extremism work. Every hoodie or t-shirt sold actively supports the fight against the very ideology the original store promoted.

This creative legal solution works within Germany's strict anti-Nazi laws, which ban displaying swastika symbols and SS insignia except for educational purposes. Violations can result in fines or imprisonment, but coded language had created a loophole that let extremist retailers operate openly online.

By turning the trademark system into a weapon against hate, Rights Against the Right has found a sustainable way to defund extremism while funding tolerance.