On June 19, 2017, the Supreme Court unanimously held that Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. §1052(a)), the provision of federal trademark law barring registration of disparaging trademarks, violates the First Amendment's Free Speech Clause when applied to potentially disparaging or offensive trademarks. Matal v. Tam, 582 U.S. ____ (2017).

Case Background

The court's ruling comes after Simon Tam, lead singer of the dance rock group, The Slants, tried to seek federal trademark registration for the band's name. The USPTO denied Tam's application based on the “disparagement clause” found in Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act which prohibits registration of marks that may “disparage … or bring … into contemp[t] or disrepute” any “persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols.”