Mealey's (June 19, 2017, 11:36 AM EDT) -- WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a ruling announced JUne 19, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that the disparagement clause of the Lanham Act, 15 U. S. C. §1052(a), which bars registration of trademarks deemed disparaging, violates the free speech clause of the First Amendment because trademarks “are private, not government, speech” (Matal, Interim Director, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office v. Simon Shiao Tam, No. 15-1293, U.S. Sup.)....