The U.S. Supreme Court case San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc., et al. v. United States Olympic Committee et al., 1986 revolved around the usage of the word "Olympic." The San Francisco Arts and Athletics (SFAA) organization planned to hold an event called the "Gay Olympic Games," but was sued by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), who claimed exclusive rights to use of the term under federal law. SFAA argued that this violated their First Amendment right to free speech, while USOC maintained it was a matter of trademark protection rather than censorship or discrimination against sexual orientation. The court ruled in favor of USOC with a majority decision stating that Congress had granted them exclusive rights over anything associated with 'Olympics' in order to protect its symbolic value and integrity from commercial exploitation or dilution. It also held that such control did not violate any constitutional protections as it didn't involve government action suppressing free expression based on content or viewpoint.

In the dissenting opinion for San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc. v. United States Olympic Committee, Justice Brennan argued that the majority's decision to grant exclusive use of the word "Olympic" to the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) was a violation of First Amendment rights and an overreach of Congress' power under its Commerce Clause authority. He believed that this ruling gave too much control to one organization over a term with historical and cultural significance beyond its association with modern athletic competitions organized by USOC. Furthermore, he contended that it unfairly restricted other organizations from using it in contexts unrelated to those events or where no confusion could reasonably occur about sponsorship or endorsement by USOC - such as SFAA’s Gay Olympics event which clearly had no connection with official Olympic games held every four years under auspices of International Olympic Committee (IOC). The justice also expressed concern about potential chilling effects on free speech due to fear of litigation.