According to the Lanham Act, a rule that contains the main trademark parameters in the United States, it is prohibited to register as trademarks signs thar consist of or contain the name of a living person without the written consent of that person.
Well, in 2018 Steve Elster attempted to register the trademark “Trump Too small”, referring to the then President of the United States. The U.S. Trademark Office chose to deny the application, finding that it violated the Lanham Act. On the other hand, the Federal Circuit reversed the judgment, as it considered that the prohibition to register personal names violated the right to freedom of expression contained in the First Amendment.
Upon hearing the case, the Supreme Court opted to uphold the prohibition to register the names of third parties, since it considered that this protects the individual reputation of a person and avoids consumer confusion. In addition, the Court emphasized that this rule is not based on the motivating ideology that each person has when applying for a trademark, but it objectively prohibits the registration of personal names as trademarks without the required consent.
