The US Supreme Court must restore a bright-line ban on unauthorized references to individuals in trademark registrations, the US Patent and Trademark Office said in a petition, asking the justices to reverse an appellate panel that ruled the policy can’t block a “Trump Too Small” mark.
Contrary to violating the principles of free speech, as attorney Steve Elster successfully argued to obtain the mark, the PTO said in a Thursday cert petition that allowing name-based registrations without the referred-to individual’s consent treads on “the rights of privacy and publicity” that individuals should enjoy.
It asked the justices to weigh whether ...