Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/16pdf/15-1293_1o13.pdf
Page Number: 23

Cite as:  582 U. S. ____ (2017) 

19 

Opinion of the Court 
Opinion of ALITO, J. 

promote. 
Ibid.  Determining  which  of  these  principles 
applies  in  a  particular  case  “is  not  always  self-evident,” 
id.,  at  ___  (slip  op.,  at  11),  but  no  difficult  question  is 
presented here.

Unlike  the  present  case,  the  decisions  on  which  the
Government  relies  all  involved  cash  subsidies  or  their 
equivalent.   In  Rust  v.  Sullivan,  500  U. S.  173  (1991),  a
federal  law  provided  funds  to  private  parties  for  family
planning  services. 
In  National  Endowment  for  Arts  v. 
Finley, 524 U. S. 569 (1998), cash grants were awarded to
artists.  And  federal  funding  for  public  libraries  was  at
issue in United States v. American Library Assn., Inc., 539 
U. S.  194  (2003).  In  other  cases,  we  have  regarded  tax 
benefits  as  comparable  to  cash  subsidies.  See  Regan  v. 
Taxation  With  Representation  of  Wash.,  461  U. S.  540 
(1983); Cammarano v. United States, 358 U. S 498 (1959). 
The  federal  registration  of  a  trademark  is  nothing  like
the  programs  at  issue  in  these  cases.    The  PTO  does  not 
pay  money  to  parties  seeking  registration  of  a  mark.
Quite  the  contrary  is  true:  An  applicant  for  registration
must  pay  the  PTO  a  filing  fee  of  $225–$600.    37  CFR 
§2.6(a)(1). 
(Tam  submitted  a  fee  of  $275  as  part  of  his
application  to  register  THE  SLANTS.    App.  18.)    And  to  
maintain  federal  registration,  the  holder  of  a  mark  must
pay a fee of $300–$500 every 10 years.  §2.6(a)(5); see also 
15  U. S. C.  §1059(a).    The  Federal  Circuit  concluded  that 
these fees have fully supported the registration system for
the past 27 years.  808 F. 3d, at 1353. 

The  Government  responds  that  registration  provides
valuable  non-monetary  benefits  that  “are  directly  trace-
able to the resources devoted by the federal government to 
examining, publishing, and issuing certificates of registra-
tion  for  those  marks.”  Brief  for  Petitioner  27.  But  just
about  every  government  service  requires  the  expenditure 
of government funds.  This is true of services that benefit 
everyone, like police and fire protection, as well as services