(January 18, 2017, 11:11 AM EST) -- WASHINGTON, D.C. — Michelle K. Lee, under secretary of commerce for intellectual property and director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, argues in her Jan. 9 reply brief to the U.S. Supreme Court that 15 U.S. Code Section 1052(a) does not restrict speech but rather “declines to assist, and declines to associate the federal government with, marks containing disparaging terms” (Michelle K. Lee, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office v. Simon Shiao Tam, No. 15-1293, U.S. Sup.)....