In the following paper, we will discuss the Supreme Court case Matal v. Tam (2016) and the court decision that left a precedent on trademark and media law. This case analysis will include a brief summary of the case and its facts, the contention of the parties, the Court’s decision, the arguments behind it, and the implications of the ruling as it affects trademark and media law as a whole. This case is important because it establishes a precedent of the Supreme Court which decides whether or not the Lanham Act's prohibition against registering disparaging trademarks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
In the year 2016, Simon Tam and his band —a group of Asian-Americans—wanted to register the name of their rock band, so they filed an application at the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a trademark on the mark “The Slants.” The trademark application was sought out in an attempt to “take ownership” of the term, and in a way, undo the way the word is depicted in an offensive way. However, the United States Patent and Trademark Office denied Simon Tam’s application on the grounds that the mark “consisted of matter which…show more content… This test is used when the government is not only banning certain content or topics, but certain ideas. The test for viewpoint discrimination occurs when government allows a person or entity to express a message, while prohibiting the messages of people who can reasonably be expected to respond. However, viewpoint discrimination involves intent to discourage one viewpoint and advance another. The government will try to eradicate, not just content from the marketplace, but certain viewpoints. If something rises to the level of viewpoint-based discrimination, it is considered to violate the freedom of speech
