PORNO JESUS Mark Refused As Disparaging To Christian-Americans

In a straightforward application of Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, the TTAB upheld a refusal to register the mark PORNO JESUS for adult entertainment videos finding the mark may disparage Christian-Americans. In re Beck, Serial No. 85767380 (TTAB Mar. 19, 2015). Although the Examining Attorney had also refused to register the mark on the ground that it contains immoral or scandalous matter, the Board did not reach those grounds in its decision.

Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act provides that the Board may refuse registration to an application when the trademark "[c]onsists of or comprises matter which may disparage persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt, or disrepute." 15 U.S.C. § 1052(a) (emphasis added). The Board relied on traditional Section 2(a) jurisprudence and applied the two-part inquiry articulated in In re Geller, 751 F.3d 1355 (Fed. Cir. 2014), namely: (1) what is the likely meaning of the mark; and (2) if the meaning is found to refer to identifiable persons, institutions, beliefs or national symbols, whether that meaning may be disparaging to a substantial composite of that referenced group.

Next, the Board evaluated the three categories of potentially disparaging marks: (1) an innocuous term that is disparaging in connection with the goods and services (such as KHORAN for wine); (2) a disparaging term that may have a non-disparaging meaning in a specific context (SQUAW used in connection with ski-related goods and services refers to Squaw Valley); and (3) a term that is disparaging regardless of the goods and services or context in which it is used (HEEB is disparaging to Jewish-Americans despite applicant's good intentions and inoffensive goods and services).

The Board...