Matal v. Tam
Matal v. Tam · 2017 · Supreme Court of the United States
What happened
The Court struck down the Lanham Act's disparagement clause as viewpoint discrimination under the First Amendment, allowing the band name at issue to be registered.
The money
No reliable public figure. This dispute matters for the rule it settled rather than for a damages number, and many trademark matters resolve on confidential terms.
What it means for your business
Registrability rules are not fixed. Both this decision and Iancu v. Brunetti removed long-standing bars, so guidance written before 2017 about what "cannot be registered" may simply be out of date.