On June 24, 2019, in a 6-3 decision, the United
States Supreme Court ruled that barring the registration of the
trademark "Fuct" would infringe upon the applicant's
First Amendment rights. In 2011, Mr. Erik Brunetti
("Applicant") applied to register the word mark
"Fuct," an acronym that (he maintains) was derived from
the phrase FRIENDS U CAN'T TRUST, for use on various articles
of clothing. During the initial filing process with the United
States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO"), the
Examining Attorney refused registration because he found that Fuct
was the phonetic equivalent of the word "Fucked" and,
therefore, an "immoral or scandalous" mark that was not
eligible for registration. On appeal, the Examining Attorney's
refusal was affirmed by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board
("TTAB"). The Applicant then challenged the TTAB's
trademark law ruling in the Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit on First Amendment grounds. The Federal Circuit reversed
the
