U.S. Supreme Court rejects ban on "immoral or scandalous" trademarks

The case involved artist and entrepreneur Erik Brunetti, who wanted a trademark for his clothing like "FUCT" - which he says is pronounced not as a word, but with the individual letters, F-U-C-T.

"But you might read it differently and, if so, you would hardly be alone," Kagan wrote for the Court, as patent and trademark officials refused to approve Brunetti's request, labeling it a 'total vulgar.'

This ruling overturned those decisions.

While agreeing with the basics of the decision, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a concurring opinion that while the decision protects free speech, the results might offend many people.

"The Court’s decision today will beget unfortunate results," Sotomayor wrote in a concurrence with Justice Stephen Breyer.

“Everyone can think of a small number of words (including the apparent homonym of Brunetti’s mark) that would, however, plainly qualify,” Sotomayor added.

The decision could have implications past trademarks, as states routinely reject vanity license plate applications because of certain words which would be used.

You can read the full ruling here.