Today's Tip For Saving Your Filing Fee - Don't Say F$ck

On July 19th, a pro se applicant filed a trademark application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the mark FUCK FRANCHISE FRIDAYS. The associated services listed on the application are related to various lobbying services. This applicant appears to really hate franchises...

Unfortunately for the applicant, this application is dead in the water. The USPTO will not register a mark containing any variation of the work "fuck" pursuant to Section 2(a) of the Trademark Act. Section 2(a) prohibits the registration of any mark containing "immoral, deceptive, or scandalous matter." The USPTO considers the word "fuck" obscene and therefore egregiously scandalous.

There is not a single registered mark in the USPTO's database containing the term "fuck," only a graveyard of dead applications from misinformed applicant's. A few applicants successfully registered a trademark containing the acronym "WTF," however.

A quick consultation with a trademark attorney would have saved this applicant's $225 nonrefundable filing fee, which is all but lost now.