[author: Charlie Nelson Keever]

The Supreme Court ruled this morning that a federal law that prohibits the government from registering trademarks that “disparage” others violates the First Amendment.

Members of an Asian-American rock band filed a lawsuit after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) kept the band from registering its name, The Slants, a reference to the derisive slur sometimes wielded against Asian-Americans. The PTO said the name was likely to denigrate a significant number of Asian-Americans in violation of the Lanham Act, which prohibits any trademark that could “disparage … or bring … into contempt[t] or disrepute” any “persons, living or dead.”

The band’s founder, Simon Tam, said the point of the band’s name is just the opposite. “[Growing up] the notion of having slanted eyes was always considered a negative thing… Kids would pull their eyes back in a slant-eyed gesture to make fun of us. … I wanted to change it to something that was powerful, something that was considered beautiful or a point of pride instead.”

The Supreme Court sided with The Slants.

“The disparagement clause violates the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his opinion for the court. “Contrary to the Government’s contention, trademarks are private, not government speech.” Alito noted that the government “still has an interest in preventing speech expressing ideas that offend,” but suggested the “disparagement clause” was overly broad.

This case could have a broad impact on how the First Amendment will be applied in other trademark cases. In 2014, the PTO canceled the Washington Redskins’ trademarks, finding the term “Redskins” disparages Native Americans under the same statutory clause that was quashed by the Supreme Court today. The team is calling today’s ruling a win. Redskins attorney Lisa Blatt said in a statement, “The Supreme Court vindicated the team’s position that the First Amendment blocks the government from denying or cancelling a trademark registration based on the government’s opinion.” The Redskins’ case has been on hold in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond, pending today’s decision.

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