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2 

MATAL v. TAM 

Opinion of the Court 

expresses ideas that offend. 

I 

A 

“The  principle  underlying  trademark  protection  is  that
distinctive marks—words, names, symbols, and the like—
can  help  distinguish  a  particular  artisan’s  goods  from 
those  of  others.”    B&B  Hardware,  Inc.  v.  Hargis  Indus-
tries, Inc., 575 U. S. ___, ___ (2015) (slip op., at 3); see also 
Wal-Mart  Stores,  Inc.  v.  Samara  Brothers,  Inc.,  529  U. S. 
205,  212  (2000).    A  trademark  “designate[s]  the  goods  as
the product of a particular trader” and “protect[s] his good
will  against  the  sale  of  another’s  product  as  his.”    United 
Drug  Co.  v.  Theodore  Rectanus  Co.,  248  U. S.  90,  97 
(1918);  see  also  Hanover  Star  Milling  Co.  v.  Metcalf,  240 
U. S.  403,  412–413  (1916).  It  helps  consumers  identify 
goods and services that they  wish  to purchase, as well as 
those they want to avoid.  See Wal-Mart Stores, supra, at 
212–213; Park ’N Fly, Inc. v. Dollar Park & Fly, Inc., 469 
U. S. 189, 198 (1985).

“[F]ederal  law  does  not  create  trademarks.”    B&B 
Hardware, supra, at ___ (slip op., at 3).  Trademarks and 
their  precursors  have  ancient  origins,  and  trademarks
were protected at common law and in equity at the time of
the  founding  of  our  country.  3  J.  McCarthy,  Trademarks 
and  Unfair  Competition  §19:8  (4th  ed.  2017)  (hereinafter 
McCarthy);  1  id.,  §§5:1,  5:2,  5:3;  Pattishal,  The  Constitu-
tional  Foundations  of  American  Trademark  Law,  78 
Trademark  Rep.  456,  457–458  (1988);  Pattishall,  Two
Hundred  Years  of  American  Trademark  Law,  68  Trade-
mark  Rep.  121,  121–123  (1978);  see  Trade-Mark  Cases, 
100  U. S.  82,  92  (1879).    For  most  of  the  19th  century,
trademark protection was the province of the States.  See 
Two Pesos, Inc. v. Taco Cabana, Inc., 505 U. S. 763, 780– 
782  (1992)  (Stevens,  J.,  concurring  in  judgment);  id.,  at 
785  (THOMAS,  J.,  concurring  in  judgment).  Eventually,