In re Elster

 
APPEAL NO.
20-2205
OP. BELOW
SUBJECT
Trademark
AUTHOR
Dyk

Issue(s) Presented

“The sole issue in this appeal is whether section 2(c) of the Lanham Act—which prohibits federal registration of any trademark that ‘[c]onsists of or comprises a name . . . identifying a particular living individual except by his written consent,’ or the name ‘of a deceased President of the United States during the life of his widow, if any, except by the written consent of the widow,’ 15 U.S.C. § 1052(c)—violates the First Amendment as applied to a mark containing the words ‘Trump too small.’”

Holding

“[W]e hold that the Board’s application of section 2(c) to Elster’s mark is unconstitutional under any conceivable standard of review, and accordingly reverse the Board’s decision that Elster’s mark is unregistrable.”

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