News & Analysis as of

First Amendment › Trademark Trial and Appeal Board › Appeals

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the government from making laws respecting the establishment of religion, prohibiting the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech... more +
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the government from making laws respecting the establishment of religion, prohibiting the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech or the press, preventing citizens from peacefully assembling, or interfering with citizens' ability to petition the government for redress of their grievances. The First Amendment is one of the most sacred aspects of the American legal tradition and has spawned a vast body of jurisprudence and commentary. less -
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Earmuffs, Kids: The Federal Circuit Delivers the F-bomb Right Back to the TTAB

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on

The Federal Circuit’s recent precedential decision in In re Erik Brunetti has surely raised some eyebrows in the trademark community (and beyond), not just for its subject matter (the attempted registration of a certain...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

What’s in a Name? Too Much to Trademark According to the USPTO

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on

With the U.S. Supreme Court beginning a new session, many are wondering what new issues the Court will address this term. One case the Court is scheduled to hear involves the relationship between the Lanham Act and First...more

McDermott Will & Schulte

Oh, Fudge. TTAB Finds Curse Word Fails to Function as Trademark

McDermott Will & Schulte on

The US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) denied registration of several US trademark applications for the mark FUCK, even though the applicant had overcome a prohibition on the registration of “immoral or scandalous” trademarks...more

McDermott Will & Schulte

“TRUMP TOO SMALL” Trademark Decision Leaves Big Questions

McDermott Will & Schulte on

Revisiting jurisprudence touching on the Lanham Act and the First Amendment from the Supreme Court’s decisions in Matal v. Tam and Iancu v. Brunetti, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that applying Sec....more

Fenwick & West LLP

The First Amendment Trumps Another Restriction on Trademark Registrations

Fenwick & West LLP on

On February 24, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in In Re: Elster, overturned the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (TTAB) refusal to grant a trademark registration on the phrase “TRUMP TOO SMALL” for...more

Akerman LLP - Marks, Works & Secrets

Supreme Court Holds Ban on Immoral or Scandalous Trademarks Unconstitutional

Akerman LLP - Marks, Works & Secrets on

On June 24, 2019, the United States Supreme Court, in Iancu v. Brunetti, reviewing the trademark application for “FUCT”, held that the Lanham’s Act’s provision, prohibiting the registration of “immoral[] or scandalous”...more

ArentFox Schiff

Supreme Court Rules Ban on ‘Immoral or Scandalous’ Trademarks Unconstitutional

ArentFox Schiff on

On Monday, the Supreme Court held that the ban on “immoral or scandalous” trademarks was unconstitutional under the First Amendment. The Court found that, as with the recently struck down ban on “disparaging” marks, the ban...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

SCOTUS on Swearing: Lanham Act Violates First Amendment by Prohibiting Registration of Immoral or Scandalous Trademarks

Ballard Spahr LLP on

The Supreme Court unanimously held on June 24, 2019, that the Lanham Act’s prohibition on registering “immoral” trademarks with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) infringes upon the First Amendment because such a...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

US Supreme Court Strikes Down Ban of ‘Scandalous’ Trademarks

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP on

On June 24, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in a 6-3 decision in Iancu v. Brunetti, 588 U.S. ____ (2019), that Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act’s ban on the registration of “immoral” or “scandalous” trademarks violates the...more

Knobbe Martens

In Re: Erik Brunetti

Knobbe Martens on

Federal Circuit Summaries - Before Dyk, Moore, and Stoll. Appeal from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Summary: The bar in § 2(a) of the Lanham Act against registering immoral or scandalous trademarks is an...more

Ladas & Parry LLP

Refusal To Register Scandalous And Immoral Trademarks Ruled As Unconsitutional By Federal Circuit

Ladas & Parry LLP on

Following the Supreme Court’s ruling in In re Tam that a refusal to register disparaging trademarks is an unconstitutional violation of freedom of speech reported on June 19, 2017, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Federal Circuit Makes Way For FUCT, Striking Down The Statutory Bar On Immoral Or Scandalous Trademark Registrations As...

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP on

On December 15, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit struck down the Lanham Act's ban on registering immoral or scandalous trademarks as unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds in In re Brunetti, --- F.3d...more

Foster Garvey PC

The Washington Redskins Win Their Trademark Battle in Overtime

Foster Garvey PC on

Simon Tam of the Asian rock band, The Slants, probably was not envisioning an 8-year-long legal battle when he chose the group’s name. Slant is known as a racial slur for Asians. Tam hoped to strip the term of its derogatory...more

Perkins Coie

Supreme Court Holds Disparagement Clause Unconstitutional

Perkins Coie on

In a much anticipated decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Matal v. Tam, 582 U.S. ___ (June 19, 2017) that a provision of the Lanham Act banning the registration of marks considered disparaging to “persons, institutions,...more

Knobbe Martens

Trademark Review | August 2015

Knobbe Martens on

The Redskins Lose Again (Off the Field)- A federal District Court affirmed the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (TTAB) ruling that “Redskins” cannot be registered as a trademark for use in connection with a...more

15 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 1

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
Sign up Log in
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide