Trademarking Animal Abuse: Should the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' and Exhibitors' Association ('TWHBEA') Lose the TWHBEA Trademark Portfolio Under the Lanham Act for Failure to Comply With the Horse Protection Act?

摘要

For almost a half-century, soring has been illegal. Yet, for that same length of time, soring has remained an integral part of the Tennessee Walking Horse industry. Tragically, it appears the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' and Exhibitors' Association is complicit in the ongoing abuse of soring, either by direct approval of the illegal practice or by neglect of any viable means of controlling the quality of the TWHBEA brand. It would be a simple thing to revoke membership to any HPA-violator and thus show to the consuming public, to the USDA, and to the USPTO, any sincerity on the part of the TWHBEA to eliminate any illegal practices within its brand and the underlying goods and services while simultaneously maintaining the quality of the TWHBEA's brand and the underlying goods and services. Similarly, to revoke registration for any horse found to be sored would have an immediate and direct negative economic impact on the humans who had so abused the horse. This lost incentive would surely curtail the abuse in quick fashion and send the same powerfully positive message to the consumers, to the USDA and to the USPTO.