Simon Tam is not a bigot; he is fighting bigotry with the time-honored technique of seizing the bigots’ own language. Only an uninformed philistine could find the band’s name disparaging.
— John C. Connell, a partner at Archer & Greiner, writing on behalf of his client, Simon Tam, whose Asian-American rock band is known as The Slants. Tam’s application for a trademark for the band’s name was rejected by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office because it was likely to disparage Asian Americans. Earlier this year, the Federal Circuit held that the law requiring the rejection of trademarks that “may disparage . . . persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt, or disrepute” violated the First Amendment. The Supreme Court accepted the case today, and will hear arguments on it later this term.
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Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.