Disparaging Mark (IP & Technology Glossary)

Summary

Historically, disparagement was a ground for refusing trademark registration under Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act. See 15 U.S.C. § 1052(a) (marks may not be registered on either the Principal Register or Supplemental Register if they consist of or comprise “matter which may disparage . . . persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt, or disrepute”). The U.S. Supreme Court held this provision unconstitutional, however, finding that it violated the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. See Matal v. Tam, 137 S. Ct. 1744 (2017).