No immoral or scandalous trademarks

A client of mine recently asked to register a trademark that included what one would consider a "bad word." The word in question rhymes with "duck."* I advised my client that there is no way to register such a word through the United States Patent and Trademark Office. U.S. law forbids the registration of marks that consist of "immoral or scandalous matter." Trademark Act Section 2(a), 15 U.S.C. §1052(a); TMEP §1203.01.

To be considered “scandalous,” a mark must comprise something that is “shocking to the sense of truth, decency or propriety; disgraceful; offensive; disreputable; … giving offense to the conscience or moral feelings; … [or] calling out for condemnation,” in the context of the marketplace as applied to goods or services described in the application. In re Mavety Media Group Ltd., 33 F.3d 1367, 1371, 31 USPQ2d 1923, 1925 (Fed. Cir. 1994). Scandalousness is determined from the standpoint of “not necessarily a majority, but a substantial composite of the general public, … and in the context of contemporary attitudes.” Id.

One might consider that today, when "bad words" are more prevalent in common parlance, that such standards would be lower- and thus more words no longer qualify as "immoral or scandalous." That is not the case. Basically any bad word, such as "f*ck," "sh!t," and "a$$hole," cannot be registered in the U.S.

That does not stop a lot of people from trying to register such marks. This is one reason for consulting a trademark attorney before filing a trademark application, as they can assist you from essentially donating your filing fees to the USPTO. There's no way you'll be able to argue around this rejection. A quick search of the USPTO records indicate 39 rejected applications comprising the f-word, 60 rejected applications comprising the s-word, and 8 rejected applications with the the a-hole word. The results of these searches are below.

F_ck Trademark Applications
Sh_t Trademark Applications
A_shole Trademark Applications

I have also seen marks such as sh!t being rejected, because the USPTO states that everyone knows that it actually means the word for poop. The only way this will change, and we'll be able to see registered trademarks that comprise "dirty words" will be to change the laws. For now you'll need to use the "TM" symbol, other common law rights, and perhaps state trademark systems to protect your more racy trademarks.

* I myself am no stranger to dirty words, and occasionally use them in my more colloquial speech. I see no need to censor these words on TV or elsewhere. However, to ensure this site is not blocked by filters at work and school, I am using the abbreviations of these words.