June 25, 2019 at 02:53AM
[photo via Flickr Creative Commons]Clothing brand FUCT can finally trademark its name thanks to a new Supreme Court decision made on Monday.
The court overturned a law that banned the trademark of "immoral or scandalous" terms. It had been in place since 1946.
Read more: Halestorm announce fall North American tour with Godsmack
The case where the decision made was surrounding FUCT. Founder Erik Brunetti sued the government for violating his First Amendment rights.
Previously, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office refused the application due to the law. Now, the court says this was in violation and sided with Brunetti.
"We hold that this provision infringes the First Amendment," Justice Elena Kagan wrote in the majority opinion because it "disfavors certain ideas."
The ruling was unanimous in part and 6-3 in part. Now, words or phrases that are considered more vulgar can legally be trademarked.
"The most fundamental principle of free speech law is that the government can't penalize or disfavor or discriminate against expression based on the ideas or viewpoints it conveys," Justice Elena Kagan said in the decision.
FUCT was founded in 1990, and Brunetti said it stood for "FRIENDS U CAN'T TRUST." He tried to trademark it back in 2011, but was stopped because they said it was the "phonetic equivalent" to the past-tense version of a vulgar word.
Following the ruling, Brunetti put out a press release about the decision.
"Today is a good day for Americans. The U.S. Supreme Court has taken the federal government out of the business of deciding questions of morality," the statement begins.
You can read the full thing here.
More news
Earlier this year, a Pennsylvania judge ruled that a school district violated a cheerleader's First Amendment rights after she posted a Snapchat using profanity about the squad.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania sued the Mahanoy Area School District on behalf of the student. She is not named because she is a minor.
The sophomore student posted "fuck cheer" on her Snapchat. This caused the school to dismiss her from the junior varsity squad. The school claimed she was posting "negative information" about the cheer squad.
According to court documents, the student was required to agree with a set of rules. Those rules claimed "there will be no toleration of any negative information regarding cheerleading, cheerleaders, or coaches placed on the internet."
The student made the post in May 2017 after she did not make the varsity squad after tryouts. The full post showed her and a friend holding up their middle fingers with the words "fuck school fuck softball fuck cheer fuck everything."
The U.S. District Court Judge A. Richard Caputo ruled that the post was protected speech under the First Amendment.
The school had to pay $1 in nominal damages and remove any record of disciplinary action against the student.
The school administrators respected and planned to abide by the outcome of the court case. However, they stated that the entire case was a waste of taxpayer dollars.
Now, the student is a junior and on the varsity cheerleading squad at the school.
"They had argued that the fact that she was in cheerleading meant that they had greater power to punish her," Molly Tack-Hooper, the student's attorney, said. "Hopefully, this ruling makes it clear that, no, schools don't get to punish kids for swearing on their own time just because they happen to be athletes."
What do you think about the Supreme Court decision? Sound off in the comments below!
See more: 16 memorable band photos
[photo via Flickr Creative Commons]Clothing brand FUCT can finally trademark its name thanks to a new Supreme Court decision made on Monday.
The court overturned a law that banned the trademark of "immoral or scandalous" terms. It had been in place since 1946.
Read more: Halestorm announce fall North American tour with Godsmack
The case where the decision made was surrounding FUCT. Founder Erik Brunetti sued the government for violating his First Amendment rights.
Previously, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office refused the application due to the law. Now, the court says this was in violation and sided with Brunetti.
"We hold that this provision infringes the First Amendment," Justice Elena Kagan wrote in the majority opinion because it "disfavors certain ideas."
The ruling was unanimous in part and 6-3 in part. Now, words or phrases that are considered more vulgar can legally be trademarked.
"The most fundamental principle of free speech law is that the government can't penalize or disfavor or discriminate against expression based on the ideas or viewpoints it conveys," Justice Elena Kagan said in the decision.
FUCT was founded in 1990, and Brunetti said it stood for "FRIENDS U CAN'T TRUST." He tried to trademark it back in 2011, but was stopped because they said it was the "phonetic equivalent" to the past-tense version of a vulgar word.
Following the ruling, Brunetti put out a press release about the decision.
"Today is a good day for Americans. The U.S. Supreme Court has taken the federal government out of the business of deciding questions of morality," the statement begins.
You can read the full thing here.
More news
Earlier this year, a Pennsylvania judge ruled that a school district violated a cheerleader's First Amendment rights after she posted a Snapchat using profanity about the squad.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania sued the Mahanoy Area School District on behalf of the student. She is not named because she is a minor.
The sophomore student posted "fuck cheer" on her Snapchat. This caused the school to dismiss her from the junior varsity squad. The school claimed she was posting "negative information" about the cheer squad.
According to court documents, the student was required to agree with a set of rules. Those rules claimed "there will be no toleration of any negative information regarding cheerleading, cheerleaders, or coaches placed on the internet."
The student made the post in May 2017 after she did not make the varsity squad after tryouts. The full post showed her and a friend holding up their middle fingers with the words "fuck school fuck softball fuck cheer fuck everything."
The U.S. District Court Judge A. Richard Caputo ruled that the post was protected speech under the First Amendment.
The school had to pay $1 in nominal damages and remove any record of disciplinary action against the student.
The school administrators respected and planned to abide by the outcome of the court case. However, they stated that the entire case was a waste of taxpayer dollars.
Now, the student is a junior and on the varsity cheerleading squad at the school.
"They had argued that the fact that she was in cheerleading meant that they had greater power to punish her," Molly Tack-Hooper, the student's attorney, said. "Hopefully, this ruling makes it clear that, no, schools don't get to punish kids for swearing on their own time just because they happen to be athletes."
What do you think about the Supreme Court decision? Sound off in the comments below!
See more: 16 memorable band photos