In a landmark decision, the US Supreme Court has upheld a ruling that a citizen cannot register the trademark “Trump too small”, which has sexual connotations that were vigorously contested by the person in question. This ruling confirms the right of a living person to the use of their own name. The Court stated that this clause of the law on trademark registration does not violate the First Amendment of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression, thus overturning the appeal decision.
The case originated in 2018 when a California lawyer, Steve Elster, was denied the right to register “Trump too small” as a trademark by the trademark agency. The law required the agreement of living persons to use their name in a trademark. However, Elster wanted to print the phrase on t-shirts and hats to criticize the actions of President Donald Trump, who is a republican.
The federal administration appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that refusing to register the trademark did not prohibit its use but only deprived it of protections associated with intellectual property law. The phrase was inspired by a comment made during 2016 Republican primary debates where Senator Marco Rubio made a remark about Donald Trump having small hands. This led to taunts between Rubio and Trump on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram.
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