Introduction
and Overview
Web Posted Oct. 13, 2005
Feds Rule
"White Pride" is "Offensive" and "Immoral"
By Justin J.
Moritz, trademark applicant
| [U.S.
citizen and retired police officer, Justin J. Moritz writes]: If you are looking for more
evidence that the United States government is biased against white people, you can add
their decision in my trademark case. In February 2004, I
applied for a trademark on the words "White Pride Country Wide." I did it
as an exercise against political correctness.
I intentionally did not choose "white power," "white supremacy" or
"the white race" because of the negative connotations of those terms.
Trademarks can be denied to offensive phrases.
When I later searched United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) records, I found
that "Black Power," "Black Supremacy," and "La Raza"
(Spanish for "The Race") had all been approved by the USPTO and been found not
to be offensive. |
Note:
Adversity.Net has a strong distaste for dividing ourselves by race and ethnicity.
And we don't much care for the term "white pride".
But then we don't
care much for terms like "black pride", "black power", "Asian
pride", or any of the self-identified hypenated American group names such as
"African-American", "Asian-American", "Irish-American", or
even "European-American."
However, we do
find it extremely offensive that the U.S. Patents and Trademarks Office (USPTO) has denied
a trademark application for the phrase "White Pride Country Wide" while at the
same time they have approved trademarks featuring "African
pride", "Asian pride", "Black pride"; "Spanish pride";
and "Nicaraguan pride".
-- Tim Fay, Editor |
|
The USPTO had also approved and registered "The Black Panther Party" and
"Burn, Baby, Burn," the party's slogan. The Black Panthers had
assassinated white police officers but neither term was found to be offensive or
immoral. To me, "white pride" was a non-offensive, positive term, or at
least I thought so.
U.S. Gov't Rejection:
On December 23, 2004, I received my Christmas present from the USPTO. In an Office
Action prepared by Barbara Rutland [of the USPTO], it denied my trademark, ruling that the
"white pride" part of my request was "offensive," "immoral,"
and "scandalous." Here are her very words:
"Section 2(a)
Refusal
"Registration is refused because the
proposed mark consists of or comprises immoral or scandalous matter. Trademark Act Section
2(a) U.S.C. 1052(a); TMEP 1203.01. According to the attached evidence from a Lexis/Nexis
database and a search of the Internet using the search engine www.google.com, the
"WHITE PRIDE" element of the proposed mark is considered offensive and therefore
scandalous."
/s/ by Barbara Rutland, USPTO Examining
Attorney
|
My Appeal
of U.S. PTO's Rejection:
On January 1, 2005, I decided to appeal the USPTO decision, but not before doing some
research.
I found that that the following
"pride" terms have all been registered as trademarks by the U.S Government:
| "African Pride," "African Man Pride," "Asian
Pride," "Bahama Pride," "Black Pride," "Brazilian
Pride," "China-Pride," "Chippewa Pride," "Choctaw
Pride," "Colombian Pride," "Cuban Pride," "Dakota
Pride," "Dominican Pride," "El Salvador Pride," "Ecuador
Pride," "Gay Pride Apparel," "Guyanese Pride," "Havana
Pride," "Honduran Pride," "Indian Pride," "Jamaica's
Pride," "Jewish Pride," "Kwanzaa Pride," "Long Beach Lesbian
and Gay Pride," "Mayan Pride," "Mexican Pride," "Native
Pride!," "Nicaraguan Pride," "Orgullo Hispano" (Hispanic Pride),
"Orgoglio" (Hispanic—'Great Pride' (supremacy?)), "Qisqueya
Pride" (Dominican Republic Pride), "Rainbow Pride Coach," "Red
Pride," "San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride,"
"Spanish Pride," and "West Indian Pride." [Mr. Moritz continues] The factual evidence for my appeal was overwhelming, or at
least I thought so. It seemed as though the federal government wanted everybody to have
pride, except white people. It seemed to be a clear case of discrimination. |
NOTE:
Adversity.Net has researched a random sampling of these "ethnic"
trademark applications on file at the U.S. Patents and Trademarks web site. Here is
what we found for a few of the terms referenced by Mr. Mortiz:
AFRICAN PRIDE:
- 33 applications on file
- 3 trademarks have been GRANTED
pertaining to hair care products.
ASIAN PRIDE:
- 1 application on file; pertaining to
frozen vegetables. Trademark GRANTED.
BLACK PRIDE:
- 12 applications on file
- 1 trademark has been granted for
"Black Pride Bottled Water"
EL SALVADORAN PRIDE:
- 1 application on file, cancelled or
withdrawn by applicant.
LONG BEACH LESBIAN GAY PRIDE:
- 1 application, abandoned by
applicant.
SPANISH PRIDE:
- 7 applications on file, 1 still
pending
- 1 trademark GRANTED as the Spanish
phrase "EL ORGULLO DE SU OLLA", which translates into English as "THE PRIDE
OF YOUR POT." (pertains to food products)
NICARAGUAN PRIDE:
- 1 application on file; pertaining to
cigars. Trademark GRANTED.
|
|
USPTO
denies appeal:
In February 2005, the USPTO issued their "FINAL OFFICE ACTION." It was again
prepared by Barbara Rutland. The USPTO upheld its original denial, explaining:
USPTO Double-Speak:
"...prior decisions and actions of
other trademark examining attorneys in registering different marks are without
evidentiary value [emphasis added] and are not binding upon the
Office."
/s/ by Barbara Rutland, USPTO Examining
Attorney
|
In plain English, the USPTO was saying that their own records cannot be used against it.
Imagine a taxpayer being audited by the IRS. Could he sit back and say, "Go ahead,
audit me, but you can't use my records against me"?
I lost my $1,300 non-refundable trademark application fee.
ACLU denies assistance
and adds insult:
My next step was to seek outside help from the Minnesota branch of the American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU).
I sent a brief letter to the ACLU-MN summarizing my case and asking if they were
interested. They initially said they were willing to review the case, so I sent them pages
of documentation. I thought I might have a chance since the ACLU prides itself on
defending the rights of the little guy. I am white, male, heterosexual, married, employed,
native born, English speaking, Christian-valued, have no criminal record, and am a retired
law enforcement officer. I could be the perfect "token" case outside their
mainstream clientele, or at least I thought so.
In March 2005, the ACLU not only turned my case down but took the opportunity to slam
white people and Christians. Renee Hamilton, legal assistant for the ACLU-MN, wrote:
ACLU agrees
"White Pride" is "offensive":
"Thus, when the PTO examined Moritz's
mark, their rejection of his mark was reasonable given that such a slogan has just but one
meaning, i.e., superiority of what he term[s] (sic) 'the [w]hite race' over all other
races and their brand of Christianity over the other religions."
/s/ by Renee Hamilton, legal assistant for
ACLU-MN
|
The ACLU was fully aware of all the other "pride" trademarks I had listed in my
documents. If a "pride" trademark had been turned down for any group of people,
other than whites, the ACLU would be in court screaming "Discrimination by the United
States Government!"
Center for Individual
Rights (CIR) provides assistance:
My next step was to seek help from the Center for Individual Rights. They are the
conservative response to the ACLU. They are political opposites but much smaller than the
ACLU. I corresponded with the CIR through mail, email, and telephone conversations. In
June 2005, the CIR politely and professionally declined my request for help, but because
of monetary, not ideological considerations.
The CIR did help by putting my case on the Federalist website, a conservative site where
attorneys can take pro bono cases. As of August 2005, I had not received any responses.
You can help:
[Justin J. Moritz continues]: The First Amendment of the
United States Constitution guarantees the right of the people to "petition the
government for a redress of grievances." If you disagree with the decision of the
USPTO in my case, please petition the government.
[Mr. Moritz
suggests]:
| 1. |
Send an email to the Commissioner of Trademarks: lynne.beresford@uspto.gov |
| 2. |
Send a letter to:
Lynne Beresford, Commissioner of
Trademarks
United States Patent and Trademark Office
P. O. 1451
Alexandria, VA 22313—1451
|
| 3. |
Send copies of this article to other people by email or mail |
|
About the
Author:
Justin J. Moritz is my real name. I am a retired law enforcement officer and have
served as a city police officer, a county deputy, a state special agent, and a training
director. I hold Associate, Bachelor's, and Master's degrees from three Minnesota
colleges.
Have Some FUN at
the
U.S. Patents and Trademarks Office
Web Site!
The USPTO assigned the following serial number to Justin J. Moritz's trademark application
for "white pride country wide": 78368298. Write this number down.
Then, go to the U.S. Patents and Trademarks Office web site and examine their response to
Justin Moritz's application. Click on the following link:
http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=78368298&action=Request+Status
(LAST KNOWN LINK. Opens new browser
window)
Also, you can go to the U.S. Patents and Trademarks Office web site to search for other
"approved" trademarks. Click the following link:
http://www.uspto.gov/
(LAST KNOWN LINK. Opens new browser
window)
END Case 45:
"White Pride is Offensive"
According to the U.S. Patents and Trademarks office. |
