The Norwegian Patent and Registration Office confirms to the newspaper VG that A-ha has submitted an application to trademark the title and thus the phrase "Take on me" in over 200 areas, including jewelry, stuffed animals, Christmas decorations, swimwear, apps, and games.
It is relatively common for well-known artists and groups to want to trademark their names and sometimes even songs or even specific lyrics from songs, so that others cannot profit from their work.
"Take on me" was A-ha's breakthrough song in 1985, but the Norwegians are only now submitting their application. The song is constantly current and has been heard in several TV series and films, including "Adolescence" on Netflix and in the latest episode of "The last of us" on Max.
But it is only a small part of the "Take on me" universe. The song is used on average 50-100 times a year, in films, TV series, games, and advertising, and is approaching six billion streams in total on all platforms, says Harald Wiik, of A-ha members' company Swinglong.
Harald Wiik does not know, however, if the phrase "Take on me", which is also not grammatically correct English, has been misused anywhere in the world.
But we are becoming more and more aware that international companies want to call themselves "Take on me" and we have, for example, received approaches from major clothing brands that want to create collections based on the title and phrase without paying sufficient compensation.
