Decisions · 85584271
In re Michalko
Serial No. 85584271 · Decided 2014-05-30 · Other
What happened
Refusal upheld — ASSHOLE REPELLENT for a gag-gift spray can was found scandalous under the then-applicable Section 2(a) bar because dictionaries uniformly label the word vulgar, and the humorous novelty context did not change that (the scandalousness bar was later struck down by the Supreme Court).
The marks
Applicant
ASSHOLE REPELLENT
Amusement device, namely, a can with a spray top used as a gag gift and sold as a unit
Why this decision is significant
Precedential Section 2(a) scandalousness affirmance resting on uniform dictionary characterization of the term as vulgar — but the immoral/scandalous bar was struck down in Iancu v. Brunetti (2019), so the holding is of historical value only.
Research significance is Trademark Valet's editorial rating of how useful a decision is to practitioners. It is not a statement of precedential weight — that is the separate Precedential field, which comes from the Board.
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The original record
Read the opinion and every filing on the Board's own docket. The summary above is our paraphrase, not a quotation from the opinion. The opinion is the authority.
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