A Trade-Mark Must Not Consist of, or Comprise, the Flag or Coat of Arms or other Insignia of the United States, or any Simulation thereof, or of any State, or Municipality, or of any Foreign Nation
It has been decided in one case where an application was made to register the coat of arms of Maryland, that it could not be registered even under the ten years' clause.
Simulations of the coat of arms of the United States, or of the United States flag, have been denied registration.
The U. S. Sanitary Manufacturing Co. was refused registration for a trade-mark consisting of the letters "U. S." with a background of a shield similar to that of the conventional United States shield.
In the case of Popoff Frères, importers, registration of a mark including the Russian coat of arms was refused, although proof was shown that the Russian government had authorized the applicants to use this coat of arms as their trade-mark. The Commissioner held that the law could not be set aside by agreement.
The reader is doubtless familiar with the trade-mark of the United Cigar Stores—a shield consisting of a background at the top with the word "Cigars" on it, with the word "United" forming the lower part of the design. The vertical lines form seven heavy strokes, corresponding to the seven red stripes in the American flag. This design is suggestive of the United States coat of arms, but it is so cleverly worked out that it does not come within the prohibition expressed in the law. Suggestive as this design is of the American shield, this feature is secondary, after all, for the design is dominated by the lettering "United" and "Cigars."