An examining attorney with the Patent and Trademark Office declined Elster’s application to register the mark, citing a provision of the Lanham Act that bars registration of a mark that consists of the name of a living person without their consent.
An internal appeal board upheld the rejection, noting that the mark includes Trump’s name without his approval. But the Federal Circuit reversed, finding that the part of the Lanham Act relied upon by the Patent and Trademark Office was unconstitutional when it comes to marks that criticize a government official or public figure.
Elster’s t-shirts bearing the phrase “Trump Too Small” are still available online for $24.99, even though his trademark application was refused.
This seems petty, but it’s actually not a good thing that they blocked it. We should all be able to criticize our government or other public figures.
I wholeheartedly agree that we should all be able to freely criticize our government or elected officials, but I feel like being allowed to make a profit or business out of that seems like a very different question than being allowed to speak personal opinions freely, and the trademark process seems more commercial in nature to me. This person is still allowed to sell the shirts themselves and share their beliefs, they just can’t go to some other person selling shirts with a similar slogan and take them to court
He’s a political figure, I think he’s even made that case for himself when he disparages other people. There is an exception in the law for just this thing, the SCOTUS is changing it again for the orange shitheel.
OTOH, I guess him taking it to the supreme court means everyone can now sell these t-shirts. Maybe that’s a good thing, lol.