The decision of the U.S. government was determined by lawyer Michael Engel, who ruled: "Registration is refused because the proposed mark consists of or comprises immoral or scandalous matter. The term 'fucking' is an offensive and vulgar reference to the act of sex.  ... A mark that is deemed scandalous  ... is not registrable." The USPTO based its rejection on a 1905 statute. It had previously refused the applications of 39 marks for using the word "fuck" and five marks for using the word "fucking". Requests to trademark terms including "shit" had been turned down by the USPTO 50 times, and a mark using "cunt" was rejected. Trademarks including the word "ass" had been accepted 135 times, and the word "bitch" was approved in several trademarks as well.