The Florida Department of State Divisions of Corporations has rejected the request of West Palm Beach business owner Paul Ardaji to trademark the name of his restaurant, fuku. Why? Because it sounds too much like “f—k you.”…. “The mark consists of, compromises or includes immoral, deceptive or scandalous matter,” the department wrote in its decision letter.
Heh heh…he said “fuku….”
This seems like an exercise in a seventh-grade level of immaturity, but the Florida Dept. of State Divisions of Corporations (or, more colloquially, the Department of Redunancy Dept.) is apparently staffed by people too intellectually lazy and inept to do some basic online research. If they could have been bothered to get off their figurative keisters, they would have learned that “fuku” is a relatively innocent Japanese word that means “good fortune, wealth and prosperity,” not “go fornicate yourself.” Instead, they’ve decided to act as if Mr. Ardaji is assaulting the tender sensibilities of decent Americans with his dirty, nasty double entendre of a restaurant name.
I can only hope that the publicity (i.e.- free advertising) generated by this ridiculous example of bureaucratic sloth and indolence will help to make fuku wildly successful.
“We’re from the government, and we’re here to…” oh, never mind….