A trademark by which the goods or services of any applicant for registration may be distinguished from the goods of others shall not be registered if it

(a) consists of or comprises immoral, deceptive or scandalous matter; or

(b) 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

(c) 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; or

(d) consists of or comprises the name, signature or portrait of any living individual, except with his written consent; or

(e) consists of a mark which, (1) when applied to the goods or services of the applicant, is merely descriptive or deceptively misdescriptive of them, or (2) when applied to the goods or services of the applicant, is primarily geographically descriptive or deceptively misdescriptive of them, or (3) is primarily merely a surname; provided, however, that nothing in this subsection 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 services, proof of continuous use thereof as a mark by the applicant in this state or elsewhere for the five (5) years next preceding the date of the filing of the application for registration; or

(f) consists of or comprises a trademark which so resembles a trademark registered in this state or a trademark previously used in this 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.

Added by Laws 1959, p. 369, § 2. Amended by Laws 1996, c. 69, § 30, eff. Nov. 1, 1996.