The USPTO today filed a petition for a writ of certiorari (here) to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, seeking Supreme Court review of the CAFC’s decision in In re Tam 117 USPQ2d 1001 (Fed. Cir. 2016), deeming the disparagement provision of Lanham Act 2(a) unconstitutional as a violation of the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.
The question presented is as follows:
Whether the disparagement provision in 15 U.S.C. 1052(a) is facially invalid under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.