Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc.

Decided April 30, 1984. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 82-1246 · 466 U.S. 485 (1984) · Cited 2,137 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Time, Inc. v. Pape · 401 U.S. 279 (1971)
• Miller v. California · 413 U.S. 15 (1973)
• Pullman-Standard v. Swint · 456 U.S. 273 (1982)
• Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire · 315 U.S. 568 (1942)
• Jacobellis v. Ohio · 378 U.S. 184 (1964)
• Edwards v. South Carolina · 372 U.S. 229 (1963)
• Hess v. Indiana · 414 U.S. 105 (1973)
• Fiske v. Kansas · 274 U.S. 380 (1927)
• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · 418 U.S. 323 (1974)
• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• New York v. Ferber · 458 U.S. 747 (1982)
• Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc. · 425 U.S. 748 (1976)
• St. Amant v. Thompson · 390 U.S. 727 (1968)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• Herbert v. Lando · 441 U.S. 153 (1979)
• Greenbelt Cooperative Publishing Assn., Inc. v. Bresler · 398 U.S. 6 (1970)
• Street v. New York · 394 U.S. 576 (1969)
• Pennekamp v. Florida · 328 U.S. 331 (1946)
• Jenkins v. Georgia · 418 U.S. 153 (1974)
• Glasser v. United States · 315 U.S. 60 (1942)
• United States v. United States Gypsum Co. · 333 U.S. 364 (1948)
• Pickering v. Board of Ed. of Township High School Dist. 205, Will Cty. · 391 U.S. 563 (1968)
• Connick Ex Rel. Parish of Orleans v. Myers · 461 U.S. 138 (1983)
• Broadrick v. Oklahoma · 413 U.S. 601 (1973)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• Hamling v. United States · 418 U.S. 87 (1974)
• Cox v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 536 (1965)
• Brandenburg v. Ohio · 395 U.S. 444 (1969)
• Inwood Laboratories, Inc. v. Ives Laboratories, Inc. · 456 U.S. 844 (1982)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. v. Connaughton · 491 U.S. 657 (1989)
• Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co. · 497 U.S. 1 (1990)
• Masson v. New Yorker Magazine, Inc. · 501 U.S. 496 (1991)
• Madsen v. Women's Health Center, Inc. · 512 U.S. 753 (1994)
• Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. · 477 U.S. 242 (1986)
• District of Columbia v. Heller · 554 U.S. 570 (2008)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Miller v. Fenton · 474 U.S. 104 (1985)
• Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston, Inc. · 515 U.S. 557 (1995)
• Snyder v. Phelps · 562 U.S. 443 (2011)
• Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc. · 472 U.S. 749 (1985)
• Morse v. Frederick · 551 U.S. 393 (2007)
• Illinois Ex Rel. Madigan, Attorney General of Illinois v. Telemarketing Associates, Inc. · 538 U.S. 600 (2003)
• Hernandez v. New York · 500 U.S. 352 (1991)
• Thornburg v. Gingles · 478 U.S. 30 (1986)
• Waters v. Churchill · 511 U.S. 661 (1994)
• Randall v. Sorrell · 548 U.S. 230 (2006)
• Counterman v. Colorado · 600 U.S. 66 (2023)
• Salve Regina College v. Russell · 499 U.S. 225 (1991)
• Wheat v. United States · 486 U.S. 153 (1988)
• City of Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc. · 475 U.S. 41 (1986)
• Rankin v. McPherson · 483 U.S. 378 (1987)
• Patton v. Yount · 467 U.S. 1025 (1984)
• Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell · 485 U.S. 46 (1988)
• Wallace v. Jaffree · 472 U.S. 38 (1985)
• Mu'Min v. Virginia · 500 U.S. 415 (1991)
• Maine v. Taylor · 477 U.S. 131 (1986)
• Gentile v. State Bar of Nev. · 501 U.S. 1030 (1991)
• National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley · 524 U.S. 569 (1998)
• U. S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton · 514 U.S. 779 (1995)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).