Some details on Sarah Palin's crazed attempt to register a trademark in her name; apart from making stupid errors in her application, there's the curious business that she considers "running for election" to be the same as using her name in commerce. Also, turns out Bristol Palin also wants a trademark on her name, for "motivational speaking services in the field of life choices."
On November 29, the application was rejected for two reasons. First, the examiner pointed out, the fact that your name appears in a news article or on your Facebook page is not evidence that you are "providing a website" featuring political information. Second, Palin did not sign the application.
The examiner pointed out that if a mark is the name of a particular living individual, it can't be registered unless that individual has signed or there is some other record of consent. (The examiner cited cases involving "Little Debbie," who is in fact a real person, and "Prince Charles," who arguably is too.) Because Palin hadn't signed, the application could not be granted.
It seems like signing your name is not something you would forget when your name is what you're trying to trademark, but she's a busy woman.
Sarah PalinTM Having Trouble With Registration
(Image: Sarah Palin, Queen of Pork, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from llyn_hunter's photostream)
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- The Sarah Palin Turkey Video – Boing Boing
- Video footage of Sarah Palin's church – Boing Boing
- Palin Debate Prep Flowchart – Boing Boing
- Computer-Generated Sarah Palin Interview – Boing Boing
- Vlad and Boris: Love Song for Sarah Palin, our Alaskan Neighbor …
- Sarah Palin in 30 seconds – Boing Boing
