Every business has to deal with the issue of trademark. If you want to open an adult toy store and name it Victor's Secret, you need to worry about infringing on Victoria's Secret's tradename (which is also their trademark). Let's say you want to open a food cart that serves pastries and coffee, and you call it Starbang. Well, you should worry about Starbuck's attorneys sending you a threatening letter. You may encounter legal problems if your business name is similar to an existing business name, whether or not you've registered that name with the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).

If you want to register your business name with the PTO, you have to satisfy all the requirements before your application is granted. It could be denied for many reasons, as the two cases you are about to read illustrate.

Please read the following articles first then answer the questions below:

1. Asian-American Band Fights To Trademark Name 'The Slants' from NPR

https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/10/20/236235813/asian-american-band-fights-to-trademark-name-the-slants

2. US Patent Office Cancels Redskins Trademark Registration, Saying Name is Disparaging from the Washington

Posthttps://www.washingtonpost.com/local/judge-upholds-cancellation-of-redskins-trademarks-in-a-legal-and-symbolic-setback-for-team/2015/07/08/5a65424e-1e6e-11e5-aeb9-a411a84c9d55_story.html

Boththe band and NFL team appealed their trademark denial to the US Supreme Court. The Courtdenied the NFL team's appeal, but accepted The Slant's caseand handed the banda victory in June 2017.

Please answer the following questions:

• The Patent and Trademark Office thought "The Slants" is so disparaging and racially offensive that it should notbe trademarked. The U.S. Supreme Court doesn't think so. Who do you agree with? The PTO or U.S. Supreme Court? Why?
• Do you think the Patent and Trademark Office was correct in its decision to cancel the trademark registration of "Redskin" because it was disparaging? Why?