normally the united states patent and trademark office (pto), under section 2(a) of the lanham act, will not consider registration of a proposed trademark which contains a term that is disparaging to a group of people. this presents a problem for the pto when an attempt is made by a group to register a mark containing a self-disparaging term, as was done with dob. "on february 20, 2004, the pto refused the registration of the mark 'dykes on bikes' under trademark act section 2(a), explaining that a reasonable person of ordinary sensibilities would recognize that the term “dyke” is disparaging and objectionable to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities."