Backcountry.com breaks its silence amid trademark lawsuit controversy to apologize and say “we made a mistake”; The Colorado Sun, November 6, 2019

Jason Blevins, The Colorado Sun; Backcountry.com breaks its silence amid trademark lawsuit controversy to apologize and say “we made a mistake”

"“To be fair, this is not about Marquette Backcountry Skis. It’s about the small nonprofits, it’s about the guides and the small businesses they targeted. This has all been about the lawsuits filed against the people in front of me and the ones coming for the people behind me,” [David] Ollila said. “What we’ve witnessed here is that it takes 25 years to build a business and a reputation and it can be lost very quickly with these poor decisions. I wonder how the market will react to this. I wonder if they can be forgiven.”...

“This boycott isn’t about a word,” [Jon Miller] said. “What is happening is that a corporation has a stranglehold over our culture in a battle over a word they literally don’t even own.”"

Supreme Court to decide if trademark protection can be denied to ‘scandalous’ brands; The Washington Post, January 4, 2019

Robert Barnes, The Washington Post; Supreme Court to decide if trademark protection can be denied to ‘scandalous’ brands

"The Supreme Court agreed Friday to review a new front in the battle over free speech and will decide whether trademark protection can be refused to brands the federal government finds vulgar or lewd.

The case involves a decision of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to deny trademark registration to a clothing line called FUCT.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit struck down the century-old ban on protecting “scandalous” and “immoral” trademarks as a First Amendment violation, and the Department of Justice wants the Supreme Court to reverse the decision...

The case,Iancu v. Brunetti , will probably be heard at the Supreme Court in April."