Balough
December 10, 2019
(December 10, 2019) Broke Ass Phone (“BAP”) will be able to put its registered federal trademark on its sign in Broadman, Ohio, following an appellate court reversal of a denial of its application for the sign because it contained an obscene word or word of immoral character. A zoning inspector for Broadman Township in Ohio […]
Balough
June 24, 2019
(June 24, 2019) The Supreme Court struck down the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) ban against registering marks that are “immoral” or “scandalous” because the restriction violates the First Amendment. The court found the USPTO erred in denying a trademark for FUCT for clothing. Under the Lanham Act, the USPTO may not register marks […]
Balough
March 16, 2019
(March 16, 2019) A cop found getting the finger after issuing a ticket was offensive but he went too far when he pulled the car over again to change the ticket he just issued to a moving violation from a non-moving violation. Now the cop must face a trial for violating the driver’s civil rights. […]
Balough
May 23, 2018
(May 23, 2018) Because Donald Trump presents his account as a “Presidential account” and uses it to take actions that can be made only by a President, his Twitter account is a public forum and he cannot block persons who criticize him and his policies from viewing the account, a federal judge found. However, the […]
Balough
November 9, 2017
(November 9, 2017) Glassdoor, Inc. can’t prevent a grand jury from seeing the email addresses and other information of users who posted anonymous reviews about their employer because their posts are not protected by the First Amendment. The Ninth Circuit affirmed a denial of a request by Glassdoor to quash subpoenas requiring the company to […]
Balough
June 20, 2017
(June 20, 2017) The United States Supreme Court has found that the Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) prohibition against registering trademarks that may disparage or bring into contempt or disrepute any persons is unconstitutional. The PTO denied registration for “The Slants” by a rock group comprised of Asians. The trademark was rejected by the PTO […]
Balough
December 23, 2015
(December 23, 2015) The restrictions prohibiting the registration of trademarks that are scandalous, immoral, or disparaging violates the First Amendment and are unconstitutional, the Federal Circuit found. Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act bars the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) from registering marks that consist of immoral, deceptive, or scandalous matters or which may disparage […]
Balough
September 30, 2015
(September 30, 2015) One man’s weed is another man’s native plant, which caused Appellate Court Judge Richard Posner to write a 16-page opinion on whether Chicago’s weed ordinance is unconstitutional. Discount Inn, Inc. sought to have the city’s weed ordinance, which allows the city to fine a property owner when the average height of weeds […]
Balough
October 31, 2014
The president of a community college’s adjunct faculty union, who was fired after she sent a letter critical of the college, stated a cause of action for retaliatory discharge, the Seventh Circuit found. Robin Meade sent a letter to the League for Innovation in the Community College, in which she criticized the treatment of adjunct […]
Balough
July 2, 2014
A New York county cyberbullying law is unconstitutional because it was too broad and violated the right to free speech under the First Amendment. Albany County in New York outlawed cyberbullying against “any minor or person” situated within the county. Specifically, the law criminalizes “any act of communicating . . . by mechanical or electronic […]
