The decision has direct implications for the Redskins' dispute with the same office - the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which canceled numerous trademarks for the team back in 2014 over allegations the name is insulting to Native Americans.
"Not only do trademarks function only minimally as a vehicle for expression, but trademark registration also involves the necessary participation of the government in approving that registration, which confers relaxed First Amendment review even when combined with the speech of a private party", the Obama lawyers said.
The band had initially been denied the trademark because the government deemed its name disparaging to people of Asian descent. The Obama administration then appealed to the Supreme Court.
Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder says he's "thrilled" about the Supreme Court's decision to strike down the disparagement clause in trademark law. "If affixing the commercial label permits the suppression of any speech that may lead to political or social 'volatility, ' free speech would be endangered", he wrote. That case, before a federal appeals court in Richmond, had been on hold while the Supreme Court considered the Slants case.
"The decision has an immediate impact on closely watched efforts to cancel the federal trademark registrations for the NFL's Washington Redskins", said Christopher Larus, partner and chair of the Minneapolis IP and Technology Litigation Group at Robins Kaplan LLP, in following the ruling. "I took a moment", Simon Tam, who fronts the band, told the New York Times" Sarah Jeong. The Patent Office had the authority to reject the trademark under Section 2 (a) of the Lanham Act which bans trademarks that "bring into contempt, or disrepute" persons living or dead.
The court ruled that the 71-year-old trademark law infringes upon free speech rights, Stereogum reports.
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Tam's case pits supporters on one side who argue they are fighting for free speech rights, and opponents who warn a Slants victory will require government approval of all kinds of hateful racial slurs, including the N-word. The same is true for the Redskins, but the team did not want to lose the legal protections that go along with a registered trademark. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote a separate opinion and was joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
But the Supreme Court has now decided that provision is unconstitutional.
The court's opinion was written in part by Justice Samuel Alito.
The Slants won support during their court fight from both liberal and conservative groups, ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
"This journey has always been much bigger than our band: it's been about the rights of all marginalized communities to determine what's best for ourselves", he said.
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