Did you know that the Lanham Act prohibits registration of scandalous, deceptive, disparaging or immoral trademarks? This means that trademarks that contain expletives, demean a group, misrepresent their origin or otherwise cause mayhem are not supposed to be given the full trademark protection that other trademarks might get. Thanks to a recent Supreme Court decision, however, that may be changing.

What Are Immoral Trademarks?

The issue of immoral trademarks was recently in the Supreme Court in a case involving a band named The Slants. Basically, federal trademark law is what allows you to register and protect your brands, but § 2(a) of the Lanham Act prohibits registration of “scandalous, immoral, or disparaging marks.” As a result, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) determined that the name “The Slants” was offensive to Asian-Americans (the band is composed entirely of Asian-American members) and denied the band’s trademark application.

The band argued that they weren’t disparaging anybody, but were instead reclaiming a racial slur, and took the issue to the Supreme Court to figure out just how far the USPTO’s power to prevent offensive trademarks goes. The Court agreed with The Slants, finding that the Lanham Act’s disparagement clause “violates the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause.” The ruling is likely to have a significant impact on how the USPTO handles future controversial trademark applications that implicate First Amendment issues.

Five Immoral Trademarks

In light of all that, let’s take a look at some other trademarks that had trouble getting registered:

“Cocaine” soft drinks had trouble getting registered.

Part of building a strong brand is finding a trademark that you can register with the USPTO, or at least being aware of the risks involved with certain choices so that you can be prepared for them.

We love talking about brands and trademarks. Simply email us or give us a call and we can discuss the many services we offer that can help you build a strong brand and get your trademarks registered.

*Note: This post was updated in June 2017 from an earlier version published in January 2017.

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