California County Can’t Register Even Unofficial Seal, TTAB Says

The fact that the County of Orange, Calif., hasn’t formally adopted a circular logo as an official seal doesn’t mean it can register it as a trademark, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board said.

Federal law bars registration of “insignia of the United States, or of any state or municipality,” and the county’s use of the logo classifies it as insignia regardless of official designation, the TTAB said in a precedential decision. The board also rejected the argument that Orange County isn’t a “municipality” under federal trademark law.

The rejection cuts off states, cities, and other government entities from creating ...