Subdivision 1. Registration prohibition. A trademark or service mark by which the goods or services of any applicant for registration may be distinguished from the goods or services of others must not be registered if it:
(1) consists of or comprises immoral, deceptive or scandalous matter; or
(2) consists of or comprises matter which may disparage or falsely suggest a connection with persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt, or disrepute; or
(3) consists of or comprises the flag or coat of arms or other insignia of the United States, or of any state or municipality, or of any foreign nation, or any simulation of this insignia; or
(4) consists of or comprises the name, signature or portrait of any living individual, except with written consent; or
(5) consists of a mark which, (i) when applied to the goods or used to identify the services of the applicant, is merely descriptive or deceptively misdescriptive of them, or (ii) when applied to the goods or used to identify the services of the applicant is primarily geographically descriptive or deceptively misdescriptive of them, or (iii) is primarily merely a surname provided, however, that nothing in this clause (5) shall prevent the registration of a mark used in this state by the applicant which has become distinctive of the applicant's goods or services. The secretary of state may accept as evidence that the mark has become distinctive, as applied to the applicant's goods or used to identify the services, proof of substantially exclusive and continuous use as a mark by the applicant in this state for the five years next preceding the date of the filing of the application for registration; or
(6) consists of or comprises a mark which so resembles a mark registered in this state or a corporate, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, cooperative, or limited partnership name in use or reserved in this state by another, or a mark or trade name previously used in this state by another and not abandoned, as to be likely, when applied to the goods or used to identify the services of the applicant, to cause confusion or mistake or to deceive. The secretary of state may require the applicant to obtain affidavits by both the applicant and by the holder of the previously registered name or mark in making this determination.
Subd. 2. Registration of collective and certification marks. Subject to the provisions relating to the registration of trademarks and service marks, so far as they are applicable, collective and certification marks, used in this state, shall be registrable under sections 333.18 to 333.31, in the same manner and with the same effect as are trademarks and service marks, by persons, and nations, states, municipalities, and the like, exercising legitimate control over the use of the marks sought to be registered, even though not possessing an industrial or commercial establishment, and when registered they shall be entitled to the protection provided herein in the case of trademarks or service marks, except when used so as to represent falsely that the owner or a user thereof makes or sells the goods or performs the services on or in connection with which such mark is used.
1959 c 600 s 2; 1981 c 270 s 138; 1984 c 618 s 44; 1986 c 444; 1998 c 315 s 2; 1999 c 133 s 8
Structure Minnesota Statutes
Chapters 324 - 341 — Trade Regulations, Consumer Protection
Chapter 333 — Assumed Names, Insignia, And Marks
Section 333.001 — Definitions.
Section 333.01 — Commercial Assumed Names.
Section 333.02 — Filing Of Certificate.
Section 333.035 — Amendment Of Certificate.
Section 333.04 — Secretary Of State; Duties, Fees.
Section 333.055 — Term Of Certificate.
Section 333.06 — Pleading Failure To File Certificate; Costs.
Section 333.065 — Penalty For Violation.
Section 333.07 — Lodges, Societies And The Like May Register.
Section 333.09 — Secretary Of State To Keep Record And Index.
Section 333.10 — Duplicates Not Registered.
Section 333.11 — Issuance Of Certificates.
Section 333.13 — Violations; Penalties.
Section 333.135 — Improper Use Of Insignia.
Section 333.14 — Unauthorized Use Is A Crime.
Section 333.15 — Threatened Use May Be Restrained.
Section 333.16 — Vested Rights Not Affected.
Section 333.19 — Unregistrable Matter; Collective And Certification Marks.
Section 333.21 — Certificate Of Registration.
Section 333.22 — Term Of Registration.
Section 333.23 — Conveyances Of Marks; Recordation, Fee, Necessity.
Section 333.24 — Secretary Of State's Record Of Marks.
Section 333.25 — Cancellation Of Marks.
Section 333.26 — Must Use U.s. Patent And Trademark Office System.
Section 333.27 — Improper Registration; Liability.
Section 333.28 — Identical Or Similar Marks; Liability For Misuse.
Section 333.285 — Dilution Of Distinctive Famous Mark May Be Enjoined.
Section 333.30 — Marks Acquired At Common Law.
Section 333.305 — Forum Is District Court; Service On Nonresident Registrant.
Section 333.31 — Service Of Process Upon Nonresident Registrants.
Section 333.40 — Trademark; When Deemed Affixed.
Section 333.41 — Trademarks Of Workers' Unions.
Section 333.42 — Counterfeiting Or Dealing In Counterfeits; How Punished.
Section 333.43 — Registration.
Section 333.44 — Fraudulent Registration Or Use; Penalty.
Section 333.45 — Illegal Use Of Certificate Of Registration.