U.S. Supreme Court to Hear TRUMP TOO SMALL Opposition

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) rejected an application for TRUMP TOO SMALL on t-shirts, and it has sparked a heated debate about the constitutionality of Section 2(c) of the Lanham Act, which prevents the registration of marks that contain a living person’s name or likeness without that person’s consent.

Finnegan associate Daniel Stringer told World Trademark Review that the legislative restriction under scrutiny in the TRUMP TOO SMALL case “differs significantly” from the restrictions that the Supreme Court held to be unconstitutional in Matal and Iancu. Those restrictions “barred registration of marks based on the views expressed by the applicants,” he notes. Although ultimately siding with the applicant,, even the Federal Circuit declined to find that the provision of Section 2(c) under scrutiny in this current case is similarly viewpoint specific.

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