1206.01    Name, Portrait, or Signature of Particular Living Individual

Trademark Act §2(c), 15 U.S.C §1052(c)  explicitly pertains to any name, portrait, or signature that identifies a particular living individual, or a deceased president of the United States during the life of the president’s widow.

Does Not Have to Be Full Name. For purposes of §2(c), a "name" does not have to be the full name of an individual. "Section 2(c) applies not only to full names, but also first names, surnames, shortened names, pseudonyms, stage names, titles, or nicknames, if there is evidence that the particular name identifies a specific living individual who is publicly connected with the business in which the mark is used, or who is so well known that such a connection would be assumed." In re ADCO Indus. – Techs., L.P., 2020 USPQ2d 53786, at *8 (TTAB 2020) (holding registration of the marks TRUMP-IT MY PACKAGE OPENER MAKE OPENING PACKAGES GREAT and design and TRUMP-IT MY PACKAGE OPENER and design barred under §2(c) in the absence of consent to register, because they created a direct association with President Donald Trump); see Mystery Ranch, Ltd. v. Terminal Moraine Inc., 2022 USPQ2d 1151, at *13-16 (TTAB 2022) (holding registration of the mark DANA DESIGN and design barred under §2(c) in the absence of consent to register because it created a direct association with Dana Gleason, opposer’s owner and backpack designer who is well known by the relevant consuming public and publicly connected with the goods in the relevant marketplace, and for which opposer was in privity and had a cognizable right to assert Gleason’s rights); In re Hoefflin, 97 USPQ2d 1174, 1177-78 (TTAB 2010) (holding registration of the marks OBAMA PAJAMA, OBAMA BAHAMA PAJAMAS, and BARACK’S JOCKS DRESS TO THE LEFT barred under §2(c) in the absence of consent to register, because they created a direct association with President Barack Obama); In re Sauer,27 USPQ2d 1073, 1074-75 (TTAB 1993) (holding registration of a mark containing BO, used in connection with a sports ball, barred under §2(c) in the absence of consent to register, because BO is the nickname of Bo Jackson, a well-known athlete, and thus use of the mark would lead to the assumption that he was associated with the goods), aff’d per curiam, 26 F.3d 140 (Fed. Cir. 1994); In re Steak & Ale Rests. of Am., Inc., 185 USPQ 447, 448 (TTAB 1975) (holding registration of the mark PRINCE CHARLES for fresh and cooked meat barred under Section 2(c) in the absence of consent to register, because the mark created a direct association with Prince Charles, a well-known member of the English royal family.

Name Could Refer to More Than One Person. The fact that a name appearing in a mark may be the name of more than one person does not negate the requirement for a written consent to registration if the mark identifies, to the relevant public, a particular living individual who is well known or is publicly connected with the business in which the mark is used, or a deceased U.S. president whose spouse is living. See Steak & Ale Rests., 185 USPQ at 447 ("Even accepting the existence of more than one living ‘PRINCE CHARLES’, it does not follow that each is not a particular living individual.").

Portraits. Cases involving portraits include In re McKee Baking Co., 218 USPQ 287 (TTAB 1983) (involving a mark consisting of a sign on which the portrait of a young girl appears below the words LITTLE DEBBIE); In re Masucci, 179 USPQ 829 (TTAB 1973) (involving a mark containing the name and portrait of President Eisenhower); Garden v. Parfumerie Rigaud, Inc., 34 USPQ 30 (Comm’r Pats. 1937) (involving marks containing the name and portrait of petitioner).