Christine Haight Farley Quoted in Law.com About Pending Supreme Court Review of USPTO Trump Slogan Trademark Denial
June 13, 2023
Law.com has quoted PIJIP Faculty Co-Director Christine Haight Farley in an article on a labor lawyer's attempt to trademark the slogan "Trump too Small". The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) rejected the trademark application citing the Lanham act. The Lanham Act is a 1946 federal statute that seeks to protect the owner of an already federally registered trademark from the use of similar trademarks likely to cause consumer confusion or trademark dilution.
The Federal Circuit sided with the labor lawyer and found the federal law to be unconstitutional. The federal government appealed the decision, but the labor lawyer believes the slogan is within his First Amendment rights.
Professor Farley weighed in on the case:
"This is the third time the basic issue has come up [in the Supreme Court] about a registration bar possibly violating the First Amendment. But it's a very different case. It doesn't run afoul of the Lanham Act because of its viewpoint about Trump. It runs afoul of the Lanham Act simply by using the word 'Trump'. That's the only offense there is using the word 'Trump'".
Click here for the full story on Law.com.
Christine Haight Farley is a Professor of Law at American University Washington College of Law. She specializes in information law and teaches courses on contract law, intellectual property, advertising law, and art law. Her current research focuses on branding in the age of data-driven advertising and the over protection of design. She serves as Co-Faculty Director of the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property and previously served as Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs.