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Who says there ain't no F in justice?

By Ilanah

Professor Ruth Anand, sitting as Appointed Person, has overturned the decision of Mr Hearing Officer Jones to refuse to register THERE AIN'T NO F IN JUSTICE for t-shirts (reported by the IPKat here).

As the Kat previously pointed out, the registrability of this mark hasn't turned on morality, but rather on distinctiveness and, according to the Appointed Person, the test for distinctiveness applied was too strict. The Kat can do not better than quote her conclusion:

The mark in suit THERE AIN?T NO F IN JUSTICE, has no meaning in relation to the goods, is grammatically correct and contains an element of irony in its double entendre. I believe it has the necessary capacity to distinguish in relation to tee shirts, sweatshirts and baseball caps in the same way as it has already been found by the Registry to be distinctive for other items of clothing, footwear and headgear. Like any other trade mark, if THERE AIN?T NO F IN JUSTICE is not used in accordance with its essential origin function then it will be liable to revocation under section 46 of the Act.

The IPKat finds it a little strange that one of the things that renders this mark registrable is the second, arguably immoral meaning, but then double entendres tend to be considered socially acceptable in the UK. He's also a little surprised that use of the word "ain't" is considered grammatically correct (though the IPKat wonders if that's a typo for "incorrect").

Full post as published by IPKat on April 17, 2008 (boomark / email).