Footnote:
In: American Business Law Journal, Vol. 42, 2004
Description:
Federal trademark law allows a third party to oppose the registration of markes that would be scandalous to the general public or that would disparage particular groups or individuals, as well to petition to cancel such a registration after it has been issued. There have been a handful of high-profile challenges to federal registrations of allegedly scandalous or disparaging marks in recent years, including the 1999 decision of the TTAB in Harjo v. Pro-Football, Inc. and the 1999 decision of the Federal Circuit in Ritchie v. Simpson. This paper examines the question of who has standing to challenge the federal registration of a mark as being scandalous or disparaging, and argues that well-crafted and clearly-articulated standing rules would allow the courts and Congress to strike the delicate balance between permitting appropriate challenges to the registration of allegedly scandalous or disparaging marks, and preventing inappropriate challenges from being brought by disaffected groups or individuals