NANF*CKET Trademark Clever But Entirely Unregisterable

On August 20th, a man from Nantucket filed a federal trademark application for NANFUCKET as it relates to "Hats; Hooded sweatshirts; Shorts; Sweatpants; Sweatshirts; Swimwear; T-shirts; Underwear[.]"

Unfortunately for this guy, the Trademark Office will not register a trademark containing the word "fuck" because it considers the word obscene and egregiously scandalous (I previously blogged about this bar to registration here) and under Section 2(a) of the Trademark Act, the Trademark Office is prohibited from registering any mark containing "immoral, deceptive, or scandalous matter." 

Other clever trademarks that died in the Trademark Office for containing the term include: PUCKFITTSBURGH, CHUCKLEFCK, F CK TERRORISTS, and GO FUCK YOUR #SELFIE. Ha!

Not only will this application be refused under Section 2(a) for being scandalous, but the applicant appears to be only using his term as decorative, ornamental use and not as a trademark given the specimen submitted above. As previously blogged about here, a slogan plastered across the front of clothing rarely functions as a trademark and causes issues in the registration process.

Any trademark attorney could have quickly identified these issues for the applicant, but unfortunately he did not appear to work with an attorney. This filing will almost certainly result in the loss of the applicant's $225 nonrefundable filing fee.