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Interesting news in relation to the Washington Redskins trademark
http://www.law360.com/ip/articles/7...e=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ip
Law360, New York (December 22, 2015, 11:51 AM ET) -- The Federal Circuit ruled Tuesday that the federal governments ban on disparaging trademark registrations is a violation of the First Amendment, striking down the provision that was used to revoke the Washington Redskins' trademark registrations.
The ruling, which came in a separate case filed by members of a band called The Slants who were refused a registration on their name on the grounds that it was offensive to Asian-Americans, declared the Lanham Acts Section 2a to be an unconstitutional discrimination based on unpopular speech.
Many of the marks rejected as disparaging convey hurtful speech that harms members of oft-stigmatized communities, the appeals court wrote. But the First Amendment protects even hurtful speech.
The government cannot refuse to register disparaging marks because it disapproves of the expressive messages conveyed by the marks, the court wrote.
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