The IP High Court Seminar was held on July 11, at which Professor ISEKI Ryoko of the Doshisha University Faculty of Law gave a presentation entitled “Immorality Provisions and Freedom of Speech Under U.S. Trademark Act.”
　The presentation given by Professor Iseki included detailed explanations of the following: the existence of provisions in the U.S. Trademark Act that make marks that are immoral, deceptive, scandalous, disparaging, and the like grounds for refusal of trademark registration; the relationship between these provisions and freedom of expression as provided in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; details of U.S. Supreme Court decisions in cases where these provisions were at issue; and differences between the U.S. Trademark Act and Japanese Trademark Act.
　As a result of the presentation and the subsequent question and answer session, the attendees deepened their understanding of the U.S. Trademark Act and gained a valuable opportunity to re-examine the trademark system from the perspective of its relationship with freedom of expression. For the attendees, this was an opportunity to learn about the importance of having multifaceted perspectives on the trademark system and intellectual property rights in general and to also listen to meaningful discussion.