Want a vulgar trademark? Better wait for review
If you want a trademark containing some of the late comedian George Carlin’s “words you can never say on television,” you’ll have to wait.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has placed suspensions on trademark applications that contain “scandalous or vulgar” words while it considers whether to ask the Supreme Court to look at the issue.
An appeals court in December ruled that fashion designer Erik Brunetti could get a trademark on a word similar to an expletive, overturning a rejection by the trademark office, in a decision that eliminated the agency’s ability to reject scandalous marks. The trademark office, in a filing Tuesday, said it hasn’t decided whether to file a high court petition and asking that it have until Sept. 7 to make a decision.
In the meantime, the allwomen music groups Pussy Riot and Thunderpussy are awaiting word on whether they can get a government-issued registration for their band names, and Miramax films is on hold for its application for a trademark on Pulp Fiction-themed goods containing
an expletive.
Less well known people are seeking registration for phrases generally not said in public company. A Kennebunkport, Maine, company, doing a play on President Donald Trump, was able to obtain a trademark on the phrase “tiny hands bleep!-grabbing” for a urinal, but a request for a similar trademark using the president’s actual word was left hanging.
Trademarks are designed to identify the origin of a product, a sort of consumer protection aid. Companies can name themselves or their products anything they want and it’s only local standards that may deter someone from using a vulgarity. A federal registered trademark gives additional legal protection, including the presumption that the trademark is valid and the ability to seek damages or court orders halting sales of knockoff goods.
“There are an infinite number of trademarks in use, but only a few million registered,” said Stephen Baird, a trademark lawyer with Winthrop & Weinstine who specializes in trademark law.