An Oregon band’s bid for the right to trademark their “offensive” name has reached the US Supreme Court.
The case was brought to the Supreme Court by The Slants after their trademark was refused because the name is disparaging to Asian-Americans.
The Asian-American band acknowledges the name may offend, but say they chose it to “reappropriate” its meaning.
The ruling could impact the high-profile case of the American football team, the Washington Redskins.
In 2014 the US Patent and Trademark Office cancelled the team’s six trademarks, including the lucrative team logo, after years of complaints from Native American groups.
The Slants had first attempted to register their band name in 2011, and sued after they were refused.
The Portland, Oregon “dance-rock” band, which is made up entirely of Asian-Americans, claimed that they chose the name to take back the racial epithet.
A lawyer for bandleader Simon Tam argued that his client “was following in the long tradition of ‘reappropriation,’ in which members of minority groups have reclaimed terms that were once directed at them as insults and turned them outward as badges of pride.”
On Thursday, the US Supreme Court agreed to hear the band’s case. Hearings will begin next week and are expected to last several months.
Source-BBC
