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ARTICLE · 17 OCTOBER 2016

Lee v Tam

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The Supreme Court agreed on September 29 to consider whether a provision of the Lanham Act that allows the USPTO to refuse to register "disparaging" trademarks violates the constitutional right to free speech.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Evan Mix
Evan Mix
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The Supreme Court agreed on September 29 to consider whether a provision of the Lanham Act that allows the USPTO to refuse to register "disparaging" trademarks violates the constitutional right to free speech.  The case is Lee v. Tam (Docket No. 15-1293).

Tam concerns a rock band called "The Slants" founded in 2006 in Portland, Oregon by Simon Tam.  Like the band's music, the name is an exercise in social commentary: Tam's goal was to reappropriate a derogatory term for people of Asian descent.  In 2011, Tam tried to register "The Slants" as a trademark.  The PTO refused, calling the name "disparaging" within the meaning of 15 U.S.C. section 1052(a).  The PTO has made a number of similar calls of late; for example, it refused to register the mark "Stop the Islamization of America" on the grounds that it is disparaging to Muslims.

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