Trademark office OKs 'Dykes on Bikes'

international | rights, freedoms and repression | other press Monday December 12, 2005 12:23 by pat c

The famed "Dykes On Bikes" have finally managed to copyright their name. Read the full article at the link below.

"Trademark office OKs 'Dykes on Bikes'
Motorcycle group's name on its way to becoming registered
- Julian Guthrie, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, December 9, 2005


A lesbianmotorcycle group in San Francisco declared victory Thursday in
their fight for a federal trademark for the name "Dykes on Bikes."

The U.S. Patent and Trademark office twice rejected the group's application
on the grounds the term "dyke" was offensive and derogatory. The office
reversed itself after the group's lawyers appealed, submitting hundreds of
pages of additional material that they said showed the slang word does not
disparage lesbians.

"The applicant came in at the last moment with a lot of evidence to show
that the community did not consider it disparaging," said Lynne Beresford, a
U.S. commissioner for trademarks."