Supreme Court to Hear Second Case on Constitutionality of Lanham Act’s Scandalous and Disparaging Marks Provision

In an order that was surprising to some IP practitioners, the United States Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear Iancu v. Brunetti (Case No. 18-302). The petition for certiorari was filed in November by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on appeal from a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decision that held the Lanham Act’s prohibition on “immoral” or “scandalous” marks violates the First Amendment’s free speech clause. The case is the second in two years that the Court has taken on the subject.

Director Monica Riva Talley discusses this topic with IP Watchdog’s Eileen McDermott.