by Dennis Crouch
The Federal Circuit recently affirmed a decision from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) that refused registration of the mark "US SPACE FORCE" based on false suggestion of a connection with the United States. In re Thomas D. Foster, APC, No. 2023-1527, slip op. at 1 (Fed. Cir. May 7, 2025). The precedential outcome of the case is important -- I believe this is the first CAFC case affirming the four-part test for false connection that had been developed by the Board -- although the holding indicates that the test is more flexible than previously suggested.
During his first term, President Trump started the United States Space Force -- 20 December 2019. Trump had actually proposed the agency that he simply called the "Space Force" in a March 13, 2018 speech. Within the week, IP attorney Thomas D. Foster filed an intent-to-use registration application Section 1(b) of the Lanham Act to register "US SPACE FORCE" for various goods and services on behalf of his eponymous law firm. It was not until later that the U.S. government formally announced the US Space Force.