Means of individualization contrary to the principles of humanity and morality: paradoxes of perception, commercial potential

The subject of work is trademarks that contradict the principles of humanity and morality as a phenomenon: their existence in the commercial environment, the attitude towards them in legislation and society, a typical characteristic. The relevance of the study is due to the dual position of such names: on the one hand, the characteristic “contradiction to public interests, principles of humanity and morality” serves as a good reason for refusing state registration of a mark, on the other hand, such names are found in many not only in the commercial environment, but also in the legal field. The purpose of the study is to characterize the degree of prevalence of such designations, as well as to assess the attitude of native speakers of the Russian language to such nominations (aesthetic and commercial attractiveness). The main research method is an experiment (survey). According to the results of experiment, it is proved that designations with a pronounced “indecent” meaning are the least aesthetically and commercially attractive for the majority of potential buyers of goods/services. The conclusion is made about the relativity of the norms of domestic legislation in the field of registration and functioning of means of individualization of enterprises, goods and services: due to the lack of clear criteria for “contradiction to the principles of humanity and morality”, registration may be denied to designations harmless from the point of view of buyers, and the designation in which the majority of native speakers reads an immoral message receives state registration.