Star Athletica, L.l.c. v. Varsity Brands, Inc.
Decided March 22, 2017. Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 15-866 · 580 U.S. 405 (2017) · Cited 181 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 6–2.
Majority · 5
- Clarence Thomas · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Elena Kagan
- John Glover Roberts Jr.
- Samuel A. Alito Jr.
- Sonia Sotomayor
Concurring · 1
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg · filed a concurring opinion
Dissenting · 2
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- Stephen Gerald Breyer · filed a dissenting opinion
“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.
- Mazer v. Stein · 347 U.S. 201 (1954)
- Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Co. · 499 U.S. 340 (1991)
- Eldred v. Ashcroft · 537 U.S. 186 (2003)
- Bleistein v. Donaldson Lithographing Co. · 188 U.S. 239 (1903)
- Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation v. LTV Corp. · 496 U.S. 633 (1990)
- Estate of Cowart v. Nicklos Drilling Co. · 505 U.S. 469 (1992)
- Walters v. Metropolitan Educational Enterprises, Inc. · 519 U.S. 202 (1997)
- Burrow-Giles Lithographic Co. v. Sarony · 111 U.S. 53 (1884)
- Maracich v. Spears · 570 U.S. 48 (2013)
- United States v. Heirs of Boisdoré · 49 U.S. 113 (1849)
- CRST Van Expedited, Inc. v. Equal Emp't Opportunity Comm'n · 578 U.S. 419 (2016)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Home Depot U. S. A., Inc. v. Jackson · 587 U.S. 435 (2019)
- Department of Commerce v. New York · 588 U.S. 752 (2019)
- Mitchell v. Wisconsin · 588 U.S. 840 (2019)
- Parker Drilling Management Services, Ltd. v. Newton · 587 U.S. 601 (2019)
- Matal v. Tam · 582 U.S. 218 (2017)
Explore from here
Clarence Thomas’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
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).