A very important first amendment trademark ruling came down today in the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (which is a U.S. Federal court) involving the restriction on immoral, scandalous, and disparaging trademarks. Here are two previous blog posts where I discussed the “immoral, scandalous, and disparaging” issue: in 2012 and 2014. The Slants Case Let’s start where today’s court opinion begins: “Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act bars the Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) from registering scandalous, immoral, or disparaging marks.” The Lanham Act is the federal law that governs trademarks. You can read the whole court opinion…
Read More