Application to register four-letter word as a trade mark causes scandal

Peter Chalk and Eliza Blandford of Blake Dawson provide a reminder that a trade mark will be deemed scandalous if it is found to cause a significant degree of disgrace, shame or outrage. In the decision of Application to Register KUNT (2007) ATMO 34, a Delegate of the Registrar of Trade Marks rejected an application to register the trade mark KUNT in class 25 for clothing in Australia on the ground that the word consists of scandalous matter under section 42(a) of the Trade Marks Act 1995 (Cth) (the Act):

  • Despite the Applicant’s attempts to establish a new meaning for KUNT, the Hearing Officer found that the Australian public are likely to view the trade mark as a crude copy of the “c” word. KUNT did not appear on the electoral roll and without the umlauts, no meaning in a foreign language was apparent. KUNT went further than FCUK and CNUT, as rather than being merely suggestive of an obscene word, it was the obvious aural equivalent of one.

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