Study says structural barriers persist after USPTO’s First Amendment defeats
By Melissa Ritti ( May 21, 2026, 19:02 GMT | Comment) -- The US Patent and Trademark Office suffered dual defeats in 2017 and 2019 when the US Supreme Court said a refusal to register disparaging or scandalous trademarks runs afoul of the First Amendment. While explicit content-based restrictions are now gone as a result, new research suggests applications tied to politically sensitive or socially disfavored industries are still operating at a disadvantage.The Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual has long been viewed as a largely technical tool — a searchable database of preapproved descriptions of goods and services designed to streamline trademark registration....
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