The Slants play rock/dance music and the Washington Redskins play football in the National Football League. Both have been struggling to protect their names. The federal Lanham Act prohibits the registration of “disparaging” trademarks. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), considering the name an ethnic slur against Asians, refused to allow The Slants (a Portland, Oregon, band composed of Asian Americans) to trademark and thus strengthen the protection of the commercial, artistic, and expressive value of its name. The band’s leader, Simon Tam, sued claiming the trademark denial was an unconstitutional restriction of free speech rights. Tam sought to “take ownership” of anti-Asian stereotypes and transform them to statements of pride. Tam’s lawsuit reached the United States Supreme Court which unanimously ruled in 2017 that the disparagement clause of the Lanham Act violates the First Amendment’s free speech clause. The court reasoned that the public expression of ideas may not be prohibited merely because those ideas are offensive to some. 

Questions 

1. Why did the Supreme Court find that the provision forbidding registration of “disparaging trademarks” violated The Slants’s First Amendment rights? Do you agree with the court? Explain. 

2. In your view, should the Redskins continue to use their nickname? Explain.