IP & concert experiences: ARMY Bombs brighten j-hope’s historic stage at Lollapalooza, shows the power of IP
The technology & design of the BTS official lightsticks show how IP can create memorable concert experiences for fans.
On July 31st, BTS’s j-hope made history as the headliner of Lollapalooza Chicago. The anticipation for the rapper and dancer’s debut stage was so big that fans created a name and hashtag for it: #Hobipalooza. And indeed, as he performed songs from his debut album, Jack in the Box (2022), as well as BTS songs and songs from his mixtape Hope World (2018), j-hope left no doubts that he can shine on his own too.
But besides j-hope’s astonishing stamina and star quality, something else shone at #Hobipalooza too (literally and figuratively): the BTS official lightsticks, known as “ARMY Bombs”. As happens in BTS group concerts, fans showed up with their ARMY Bombs in support of j-hope, lighting up the place as they shook the sticks to the rhythm of the music.
j-hope was the first Korean artist to headline a major music festival. To those who have already attended BTS concerts before, seeing the amount of ARMY Bombs certainly made them feel at home. But the ARMY Bomb caught the attention of people unfamiliar with BTS and K-pop as well. Some Lollapalooza attendants even commented that they could see other artists using the same technology to enhance their concert experiences.
The technology and design involved in the ARMY Bomb come to show how Intellectual Property (IP) is at the heart of many memorable experiences in music and entertainment beyond music copyrights.
The ARMY Bomb is a fascinating combination of different types of IP, such as design and patent rights.
Its design is registered by HYBE (the company that manages BTS’s label) with the Korean Intellectual Property Office. The registration assigns HYBE exclusive rights over the commercialization of the design.
Different versions of the ARMY Bomb were released throughout BTS’s career. As of the date of blog post, according to information obtained from the Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service (KIPRIS), HYBE owns three ARMY Bomb design registrations.
HYBE also holds patent applications related to the ARMY Bomb’s light control and bluetooth pairing methods. (As this blog post is published, these applications remain unexamined.)
Many K-pop groups have their own sticks/lightsticks. It has become a sort of tradition in K-pop, which dates back to 2006 when BIGBANG released their own personalized lightsticks.
As for BTS and ARMY, the ARMY Bomb is a big part of the entire experience of attending a BTS concert — and now, a j-hope concert too!
These experiences are made possible by IP, which also protects and supports the core elements of an artist’s career: music (protected by copyright), and brands (protected by trademark rights).
Interested in BTS and Intellectual Property? You might enjoy these articles written/co-written by our Ana Clara Ribeiro:
- How band BTS is using IP to build its legacy, written for WIPO Magazine, the official publication of the World Intellectual Property Organization;
- Branding as a tool for protection of Intellectual Property rights: BTS and ARMY as a case study, preliminary research article published in The Rhizomatic Revolution Review [20130613].
And if you enjoy j-hope’s music, check these articles written by Ana Clara Ribeiro as well:
- BTS’ j-hope and the unbearable lightness of the sun, profile written for Rolling Stone Korea;
- j-hope’s “Hope World”: songwriting as an architectural tool for the persona, blog post.
This blog post is published for informational purposes only, and is not intended to promote any of the artists or brands here mentioned. The information on this blog post is based on the laws in force at the time it was written, and its use does not create an attorney-client relationship, as this blog post does not consist of or replace legal advice neither business consultancy services.
3Três Consultoria e Criação (Consulting & Creative) specializes in the intersection of creative, Intellectual Property Law, and communication services.
Contact us at: contato@3trescc.com
