Arkady
President
It's not often I can bring actual professional expertise to a subject here (as opposed to my usual "enthusiastic amateur" status), but on trademarks, I can help. There was a question about why the USPTO allows the mark "nigga" but not "Redskin." I did some research, and it turns out it doesn't. Of all the attempts to trademark some variant of "nigga," every one is dead except the most recent, which will almost surely die, too. They're listed as "abandoned," but if you go into the file you'll see that they're essentially dropped by the applicant after the registration has been refused on account of being scandalous (the registrant could, in theory, appeal, but instead abandons it, because the appeal would fail and isn't worth the money).
Here's the exact response from the USPTO to Damon Wayons when he tried to register the mark, a few years back:
Here's the exact response from the USPTO to Damon Wayons when he tried to register the mark, a few years back:
Registration is refused because the proposed mark consists of or comprises immoral or scandalous matter. Trademark Act Section 2(a), 15 U.S.C. §1052(a); TMEP §1203.01. According to the attached evidence, drawn from an internet search using the search engine Google, the proposed mark NIGGA means N*****r and is thus scandalous because it disparages African-Americans.
To be considered “scandalous,” a mark must be “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); In re Wilcher Corp., 40 USPQ2d 1929, 1930 (TTAB 1996). 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.
Although debate exists about in-group uses of the term, both the word “N*****r” and the abbreviated form “nigga” are almost universally understood to be derogatory. The attached evidence makes this point.
nig·ger
nig·ger (nîg¹er) noun
Offensive Slang.
1. a. Used as a disparaging term for a Black person: “You can only be destroyed by believing that you really are what the white world calls a N*****r” (James Baldwin). b. Used as a disparaging term for a member of any dark-skinned people.
2. Used as a disparaging term for a member of any socially, economically, or politically deprived group of people: “Gun owners are the new N*****s . . . of society” (John Aquilino).
[Alteration of dialectal neger, black person, from French nègre, from Spanish negro. See Negro.][1]
A mark that is deemed scandalous under Section 2(a) is not registrable on either the Principal or Supplemental Register. TMEP §1203.01.
To be considered “scandalous,” a mark must be “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); In re Wilcher Corp., 40 USPQ2d 1929, 1930 (TTAB 1996). 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.
Although debate exists about in-group uses of the term, both the word “N*****r” and the abbreviated form “nigga” are almost universally understood to be derogatory. The attached evidence makes this point.
nig·ger
nig·ger (nîg¹er) noun
Offensive Slang.
1. a. Used as a disparaging term for a Black person: “You can only be destroyed by believing that you really are what the white world calls a N*****r” (James Baldwin). b. Used as a disparaging term for a member of any dark-skinned people.
2. Used as a disparaging term for a member of any socially, economically, or politically deprived group of people: “Gun owners are the new N*****s . . . of society” (John Aquilino).
[Alteration of dialectal neger, black person, from French nègre, from Spanish negro. See Negro.][1]
A mark that is deemed scandalous under Section 2(a) is not registrable on either the Principal or Supplemental Register. TMEP §1203.01.
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