Opinion ID: 2795022
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Are Trade Names Protected Speech?

Text: For many years, commercial speech lay outside the ambit of the First Amendment. In 1975, the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment protects commercial speech, Bigelow v. Virginia, 421 U.S. 809, 818 (1975), and five years later the Supreme Court laid out the fourpart test for determining the constitutionality of restrictions on commercial speech, Central Hudson, 447 U.S. at 566. Today, however, it is unquestionably true that trademarks are protected speech under Supreme Court commercial speech jurisprudence. Commercial speech is the “dissemination of information as to who is producing and selling what product, for what reason, and at what price.” Va. State Bd. of Pharmacy v. Va. Citizens Consumer Council, Inc., 425 U.S. 748, 765 (1976). Protecting the flow of this type of information is “indispensable.” Id. Four years after Bigelow, the Supreme Court held that the trade name of an optometrist is commercial speech. Friedman v. Rogers, 440 U.S. 1, 11 (1979) (“The use of trade names in connection with optometrical practice, then, is a form of commercial speech and nothing more.”). Trade names identify the source of a product or service for users, and thus provide some of the information labeled indispensable by the Supreme Court in Virginia State Board. Indeed, the government has conceded that “[t]rademarks are a form of commercial speech.” Appellee’s Br. 34 n.5. Because a trademark identifies the source of a product or service for users, it is protected commercial speech. IN RE TAM 5 While it may be true that many marks are used solely as a source identifier, that is not the case here. Mr. Tam’s mark THE SLANTS does more than merely identify the band in the commercial arena. In Friedman, the Court reasoned that the optician seeking the trade name “does not wish to editorialize on any subject, cultural, philosophical, or political. He does not wish to report any particularly newsworthy fact, or to make generalized observations even about commercial matters.” 440 U.S. at 11. Here, by contrast, Mr. Tam seeks to trademark the name of a musical group, selecting the name “The Slants” to “reclaim” and “take ownership” of Asian stereotypes. J.A. 129–30. The band draws inspiration for its lyrics from childhood slurs and mocking nursery rhymes, J.A. 130, and its albums include “The Yellow Album” and “Slanted Eyes, Slanted Hearts.” The band “feel[s] strongly that Asians should be proud of their cultural heritage, and not be offended by stereotypical descriptions.” J.A. 52. With their lyrics, performances, and band name, Mr. Tam and The Slants weigh in on cultural and political discussions about race and society that are within the heartland of speech protected by the First Amendment.