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Page Number: 23

6 

IANCU v. BRUNETTI 

Opinion of BREYER, J. 

even  to  use  such  words  directly  next  to  other  registered
marks.  Indeed, a business owner might even use a vulgar 
word as a trademark, provided that he or she is willing to 
forgo  the  benefits  of  registration.    See  post,  at  2  (opinion
of  SOTOMAYOR,  J.);  Tam,  582  U. S.,  at  ___–___  (slip  op., 
at 4–5).

Moreover,  the  field  at  issue  here,  trademark  law,  is  a 
highly regulated one with a specialized mission: to “hel[p]
consumers  identify  goods  and  services  that  they  wish  to 
purchase, as well as those they want to avoid.”  Id., at ___ 
(slip op., at 2).  As I have noted, that mission, by its very 
nature, requires the Government to impose limitations on
speech.  Supra, at 5.  Trademark law therefore forbids the 
registration  of  certain  types  of  words—for  example,  those
that will likely “cause confusion,” or those that are “merely 
descriptive.”    15  U. S. C.  §§1052(d),  (e).    For  that  reason, 
an  applicant  who  seeks  to  register  a  mark  should  not 
expect  complete  freedom  to  say  what  she  wishes,  but 
should instead expect linguistic regulation. 

Now  consider,  by  way  of  contrast,  the  Government’s
interests  in  barring  the  registration  of  highly  vulgar  or
obscene trademarks.  For one thing, when the Government
registers  a  mark,  it  is  necessarily  “involv[ed]  in  promot-
ing”  that  mark.  Post,  at  18  (opinion  of  SOTOMAYOR,  J.).
The  Government  has  at  least  a  reasonable  interest  in 
ensuring that it is not involved in promoting highly vulgar 
or  obscene speech,  and  that  it  will  not  be  associated  with 
such speech.

For  another,  scientific  evidence  suggests  that  certain
highly  vulgar  words  have  a  physiological  and  emotional 
impact that makes them different in kind from most other 
words.  See M. Mohr, Holy S***: A Brief History of Swear-
ing  252  (2013)  (Mohr)  (noting  the  “emotional  impact”  of
certain profane words that “excite the lower-brain circuitry 
responsible  for  emotion,”  resulting  in  “electrical  impulses 
that  can  be  measured  in  the  skin”).    These  vulgar  words