Rhode Island § 6-2-3 - Registration and Protection of Trademarks

§ 6-2-3. Registrability.

No person may register a mark if it:

(1) Consists of or comprises immoral, deceptive, or scandalous matter;

(2) Consists of or comprises matter that may disparage or falsely suggest a connection with persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt or disrepute;

(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 thereof;

(4) Consists of or comprises the name, signature, or portrait of any living individual, except with his or her written consent;

(5) When applied to the goods or services of the applicant is merely descriptive or deceptively misdescriptive of them; or when applied to the goods or services of the applicant is primarily geographically descriptive or deceptively misdescriptive of them; or is primarily merely a surname. Provided, however, that nothing in this subdivision shall prevent the registration of a mark used in the state by the applicant that 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 services, proof of continuous use as a mark by the applicant in the state or elsewhere for the five (5) years next preceding the date of the filing of the application for registration; or

(6) So resembles a mark registered in the state or a mark or trade name previously used in the state by another and not abandoned, as to be likely, when applied to the goods or services of the applicant, to cause confusion or mistake or to deceive.