The Supreme Court says offensive trademarks are protected speech

“HATE speech”, activists on college campuses like to say, “is not free speech”. Ted Wheeler, the mayor of Portland, Oregon, made the point last month in reference to a man who uttered anti-Muslim slurs before killing two people who challenged him. “Hate speech is not protected by the First Amendment”, Mr Wheeler said. For decades, the Supreme Court has politely disagreed. And once again on June 19th, in a unanimous ruling regarding a Portland-based rock band, the justices clarified that offensive or hateful speech falls squarely under the First Amendment umbrella.

Matal v Tam involves a dispute over a name. Simon Tam, front man for The Slants, “the first and only all-Asian American dance rock band in the world”, sought to trademark the band’s name with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). With references to urbandictionary.com and other sources, the PTO rejected the application, telling the band its...Continue reading