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According to EU and international trade mark law, signs that are contrary to public policy or to accepted principles of morality may be denied registration. Public policy and morality are open legal concepts that provide a typical entrance door for fundamental rights, allowing the taking into account of ethical values when defining the content and scope of intellectual property law. As IP offices are EU or national institutions that are bound by fundamental rights protection, the conformity of their practice needs to be tested with regard to these higher constitutional principles. In this article, we will verify if the current practices with regard to the refusal to register immoral trade marks on morality and public policy grounds take sufficiently into account fundamental rights, and in particular the freedom of expression and freedom to conduct business of trade marks applicants. If the decisions of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) will be given the main attention, those of the General Court of the European Union (GCEU), the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the EFTA Court will also be considered. The European practice will then be compared to the recent case law on this topic in the United States, in particular to the Supreme Court decision Matal v. Tam of June 2017, already considered by some commentators as a historical development as it overturns a long tradition of trade mark precedent barring from protection offensive and disparaging trade marks. We conclude that the implications of fundamental rights protection in the EU might lead to different results than in the US and that the practice developed by the EUIPO with regard to immoral trade marks is in general consistent with the standards required by the European legal order. However, there might be some (rare) situations where a new approach could be needed in the future, for example when the trade mark application can qualify as mixed expression, both commercial and political or artistic in nature.

Pure zinc oxide (ZnO) and 5% Al-doped ZnO (ZNAL) were synthesized using the modified Pechini method and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Raman spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy and UV-visible spectroscopy. XRF confirmed the theoretical stoichiometry, while XRD and Raman spectroscopy indicated that Al3+ was incorporated into the ZnO wurtzite lattice with no secondary phases, leading to a decrease in the band gap value and to a meaningful increase of the Lewis basic sites. Pure and doped ZnO were used as catalysts in the ethylic transesterification of cottonseed oil using a factorial design to determine the best synthesis conditions. Oil conversion into biodiesel was evaluated by viscosity measurements and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The results analyzed by factorial design indicated that the catalyst type and temperature were the determinant factors in the conversion indices. The highest basicity of the ZNAL lead to a significant increase of the catalytic potential, reaching a reduction of the oil viscosity next to 71% at 130 °C and greater than 85% at 200 °C. Resumo Óxido de zinco puro (ZnO) e dopado com 5% de Al (ZNAL) foram sintetizados pelo método Pechini modificado e caracterizados por difração de raios X (DRX), fluorescência de raios X (FRX), espectroscopia Raman, espectroscopia no infravermelho e espectroscopia UV-visível. A análise por FRX confirmou a relação estequiométrica teórica, enquanto DRX e espectroscopia Raman indicaram que o Al3+ foi incorporado no retículo de wurtzita do ZnO sem fases secundárias, conduzindo a uma diminuição no valor do band gap e a um aumento significativo dos sítios básicos de Lewis. ZnO puro e dopado foram utilizados como catalisadores na transesterificação etanólica do óleo de algodão utilizando um planejamento fatorial para determinar as melhores condições de síntese. Os índices de conversão do óleo em biodiesel foram avaliados através de medidas da viscosidade e por espectroscopia RMN 1H. Os resultados analisados pelo planejamento fatorial indicaram que o tipo de catalisador e a temperatura foram os fatores determinantes nos índices de conversão. O aumento do caráter básico do catalisador ZNAL conduziu a um aumento significativo do potencial catalítico, atingindo uma redução da viscosidade do óleo próxima de 71% a 130 °C e superior a 85% a 200 °C.