The case concerns the slogan “Trump too small”, which has a strong sexual connotation in English. And the question is: can this phrase be registered as a trademark without the consent of the former American president?
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The process that will be handled by the highest court in the United States was initiated by a lawyer from the state of California. In 2018, he tried to register this “brand” to produce t-shirts and caps criticizing the Republican tycoon’s performance in the White House. In his request, Steve Elster described the phrase as a “political comment.”
The slogan was inspired by a joke that emerged during the debates between the candidates for the Republican Party primaries in 2016. Republican Senator Marco Rubio, when pointing out that Donald Trump had small hands, made an insinuation: “You know what they say about men with small hands?” small hands…”, in reference to a sexual aspect.
The trademark registration agency had rejected the application, saying the law required the consent of living people to register their names. The lawyer then appealed to the court system.
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A court and then an appeals body ruled in favor of him, in the name of defending freedom of expression and the right to criticize “public figures”.
Federal authorities then asked the Supreme Court to intervene. In a court document, they argued that the refusal to register this phrase as a trademark did not prohibit its use, but merely deprived it of protections related to intellectual property law.
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