{"id":307,"date":"2017-12-15T20:15:55","date_gmt":"2017-12-16T01:15:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/?p=307"},"modified":"2017-12-17T21:42:47","modified_gmt":"2017-12-18T02:42:47","slug":"immoral-and-scandalous-matter-are-as-registrable-as-disparaging-matter-the-principal-register-is-fuct","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/?p=307","title":{"rendered":"Immoral and Scandalous Matter are as Registrable as Disparaging Matter; The Principal Register is FUCT"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cafc.uscourts.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/opinions-orders\/15-1109.Opinion.12-13-2017.1.PDF\">In re\u00a0Brunetti<\/a>, [2015-1109] (December 15, 2017), the Federal Circuit reversed the\u00a0Trademark\u00a0Trial and Appeal Board, which affirmed the\u00a0examining attorney\u2019s refusal to register the mark FUCT\u00a0because it comprises immoral or scandalous matter under<br \/>\n15 U.S.C. \u00a7 1052(a).<\/p>\n<p>While the Federal Circuit found substantial evidence\u00a0supported the Board\u2019s findings and that the Board correctly concluded that the mark comprises immoral or scandalous\u00a0matter, the Federal Circuit held that the bar on registering\u00a0immoral or scandalous marks is an unconstitutional\u00a0restriction of free speech.<\/p>\n<p>After its\u00a0en\u00a0 banc decision <em>In\u00a0re Tam<\/em>, 808 F.3d 1321, 1333\u201334 &amp; n.4 (Fed. Cir. 2015), which held that Section 2(a)&#8217;s prohibition against registration of disparaging marks unconstitutional\u00a0under the First Amendment because it discriminated\u00a0on the basis of content, message, and viewpoint, which the Supreme Court affirmed, the Federal Circuit determined that the prohibition against scandalous marks was similarly unconstitutional.<\/p>\n<p>The government conceded that \u00a7 2(a)\u2019s bar on registering\u00a0immoral or scandalous marks is a content-based\u00a0restriction on speech, subject to strict scrutiny review. However, the<br \/>\ngovernment contended \u00a7 2(a)\u2019s content-based bar on registering\u00a0immoral or scandalous marks does not implicate\u00a0the First Amendment because trademark registration is\u00a0either a government subsidy program or limited public\u00a0forum.\u00a0 The Federal Circuit examined both of these arguments in detail, and rejected them.<\/p>\n<p>It seems ridiculous to assert that the First Amendment creates a right to register a trademark, but the Federal Circuit has held otherwise and the Supreme Court agrees.\u00a0 One has to wonder which other of Section 2&#8217;s prohibitions are likewise improper restrictions on speech.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In In re\u00a0Brunetti, [2015-1109] (December 15, 2017), the Federal Circuit reversed the\u00a0Trademark\u00a0Trial and Appeal Board, which affirmed the\u00a0examining attorney\u2019s refusal to register the mark FUCT\u00a0because it comprises immoral or scandalous matter under 15 U.S.C. \u00a7 1052(a). While the Federal Circuit &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/?p=307\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=307"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":308,"href":"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307\/revisions\/308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trademarks.harnessip.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}