Proud Boys trademark owner surrenders registration over “toxicity”

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to share something I found during a late night Reddit crawl. The owner of the trademark for Proud Boys — now a designated terrorist organization — has reportedly surrendered the organization’s trademark to the USPTO after leaving the group. As the article says, “The use of a trademark is notable due to the Proud Boys adoption of a brand identity – including members often wearing distinctive dress (previously Fred Perry black/yellow/yellow twin-tipped shirts) and the sale of official merchandise.” It will be interesting to see whether the trademark may be reissued to another member of the group given the obvious public policy arguments against doing so.

http://www.worldtrademarkreview.com/governmentpolicy/proud-boys-trademark-owner-surrenders-registration-weeks-after-capitol-riot