The trademark was first filed last month, data from the US Patent and Trademark Office shows, on the same day that West wore a shirt with an image of Pope John Paul II on the front and the words “White Lives Matter” written on the back. He wore the shirt during a surprise catwalk event held at Paris fashion week.

The person who initially secured the trademark transferred its ownership to Ja and Ward’s company Civic Cipher LLC weeks later, according to data from the US Patent and Trademark Office. CNN has reached out to the original owner for comment.

Civic Cipher told CNN, the original owner of the trademark is a listener of their show and wishes to remain anonymous.

Ja told CNN that ownership of the trademark means having the exclusive right to sell clothing with that term. When the listener found out the rapper-producer “repopularized” the term, “I think that maneuver was primarily to ensure that other people would not profit from it.”.

Over the years, West, who has legally changed his name to Ye, has made multiple inflammatory statements that have angered many in the Black community, including his insistence that slavery was a “choice” and “racism is a dated concept.” And his recent antisemitic remarks caused companies that he was affiliated with to end their relationships with him, bringing to an end his tenure on Forbes Billionaires List.

Civic Cipher is a nationwide show that started in 2020 to create a space for Black and brown people to have courageous conversations.

The Black community is “beyond rapping and singing” and the show goes beyond what a listener would typically hear on a hip-hop radio station, Ja told CNN.

“We deal with police violence, housing inequality, environmental racism, we deal with maternal health outcomes – things that disproportionately affect Black and brown communities.”