{"id":4829,"date":"2025-03-17T03:05:45","date_gmt":"2025-03-17T03:05:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/?p=4829"},"modified":"2025-03-17T16:05:26","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T16:05:26","slug":"no-offense-but-can-this-trademark-be-registered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/no-offense-but-can-this-trademark-be-registered\/","title":{"rendered":"No Offense, But Can This Trademark Be Registered?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A primer on the immoral or offensive bar to trademark registration<\/em><\/p>\n

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Trademarks are all around us\u2014from the Apple symbol emblazoned on a MacBook<\/a> to a \u201cLoyola Chicago\u201d logo<\/a> printed on a sweatshirt. (Spot three<\/em> trademarks in that sentence!) Trademarks exist across different industries and evoke different things to a consumer. However, all trademarks serve an essential purpose: to identify and distinguish<\/a> a good or service in commerce from others\u2019 goods and services.<\/p>\n

What is a Trademark?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trademarks include words, symbols, or \u201cdevices\u201d<\/a> (or a combination of these) that serve as specific source identifiers to a product or service in commerce. This helps consumers quickly identify the source and minimize confusion in the marketplace. A valid trademark enables companies to distinguish their goods or services in the marketplace. To maintain a valid trademark, a trademark owner must continuously use the mark in commerce, and it must remain distinctive. For additional legal benefits, someone can seek official registration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office<\/a> (USPTO).<\/p>\n

Supreme Court cases like Matal v. Tam<\/em><\/a> and Iancu v. Brunetti<\/em><\/a> illustrate how trademark registration can involve interesting and sometimes controversial issues. But first, let\u2019s talk about the benefits of trademark registration.<\/p>\n

Trademark Registration: How Does it Work and Why Do It?<\/strong><\/p>\n

An unregistered trademark is at a disadvantage in legal disputes.\u00a0 The unregistered trademark does not have any presumption of validity in legal disputes.\u00a0 So, the mark owner would need to establish the basics of why there is a trademark, including that it was used in commerce, and why it is distinctive in the marketplace. In addition, the owner of an unregistered mark may only be able to stop subsequent use of the mark in the specific geographic area<\/a> in which the business operates.<\/p>\n

Federally registered marks receive an arsenal of legal protection<\/a> and benefits that are not available to unregistered marks. For one, when a trademark owner wants to bring a lawsuit against another for allegedly violating their mark, a federally registered trademark is presumed valid. This helps streamline their case.<\/p>\n

Registration also provides constructive notice<\/a> of ownership nationwide. In lawsuits, this is helpful for trademark owners since other companies and people are presumed to be aware of the trademark. This benefits trademark owners by preventing infringers from claiming they adopted a similar mark in good faith and strengthening the owner\u2019s enforcement rights in legal disputes.<\/p>\n

And registration can bring financial rewards.\u00a0 Federally registered marks are given enhanced remedies<\/a> like statutory damages and attorney\u2019s fees in trademark infringement suits.<\/p>\n

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Trademarks help distinguish goods and services in the marketplace. Source: Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The owner of a federally registered mark can also stop the importation of an infringing product<\/a> at the border. Federal registration allows an owner to register the mark with the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.<\/p>\n

Given all these benefits, why wouldn\u2019t everyone register?\u00a0 One reason is that registration may not be possible. Federal registration of a mark comes with a few requirements<\/a>:<\/p>\n