Jeremy Sheff, a professor at St. John's University School of Law who specializes in intellectual property, said the Supreme Court could be interested in the cases because it has been "pretty aggressive" in protecting First Amendment speech — even remarks considered highly offensive.
Anyone who has visited The Slants' website will find the band members are certainly no fans of the team. One section has a lengthy list of reasons why the cases are different. No. 1 is "unlike REDSKINS, THE SLANTS is not an inherent racial slur."
This story corrects a description of the band's legal argument. The Slants say if the Supreme Court wants to hear the cases together, it should do so now rather than waiting for lower court to rule in Redskins case.
The Supreme Court could decide as early as this month whether to hear the dispute involving the Portland, Oregon-area band. And if the football team has its way, the justices could hear both cases in its new term.
The Redskins claim their case is "a better vehicle" than Tam's for the Supreme Court to consider the constitutionality of the trademark law. The team says the effect of canceling a trademark is more harmful because it has been relying on the law's financial protections for nearly 50 years. Without trademark protection, the team could lose millions if it can't block the sale of counterfeit merchandise.
The American Civil Liberties Union has sided with the Redskins' free-speech claims,Pat Tillman Cardinals Jersey, even as the group has publicly called on the team to change the name because it is offensive.
The Slants say their goal was not to offend anyone, but to transform a derisive term about the shape of Asian eyes into a statement of ethnic and cultural pride. The band won a major victory last year when a divided federal appeals court in the District of Columbia ruled the law prohibiting offensive trademarks violates free-speech rights. The Obama administration has asked the Supreme Court to overturn that ruling.
Tam, in a legal brief, says if the court decides to hear the cases together, the justices should do so now rather than waiting for the appeals court to rule in the Redskins case. Otherwise, he says,J.R. Smith Jersey, a future ruling against the Redskins could end up affecting the band's status.
__
In The Slants case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in December that the First Amendment protects "even hurtful speech that harms members of oft-stigmatized communities."
But Tam and his Asian-American rock band, The Slants, find themselves on the same side as the NFL franchise in a First Amendment legal battle over trademark protection for names that some consider offensive.
The team also points out that the government over the years has registered dozens of companies with names that could be considered offensive. Among those: Baked By A Negro bakery products, Midget Man condoms, Dago Swagg clothing and the rock band White Trash Cowboys.
"The government doesn't get to withhold a benefit because it disagrees with the content of someone's speech," said ACLU national legal director Steve Shapiro.
At issue is a constitutional challenge to a law barring the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from registering trademarks that disparage minority groups. The office denied a trademark to the Slants in 2011 after finding the name disparaged people of Asian descent.
The Redskins, too, say their team name is meant to honor American Indians. But the team has faced years of legal challenges, and a testy public relations fight, from members of the very group they claim to salute. The Redskins case involves the trademark office's move last year to cancel the team trademark that was first registered in 1967. A federal judge has agreed with that decision.
"The First Amendment forbids government regulators to deny registration because they find the speech likely to offend others,Cheap Jerseys 2018," Judge Kimberly Moore said for the majority.
The administration argues that the law does not restrict speech because the band is still free to use the name even without trademark protection. The law "simply reflects Congress' judgment that the federal government should not affirmatively promote the use of racial slurs and other disparaging terms by granting the benefits of registration," the government said.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Simon Tam has openly criticized the Washington Redskins team name as a racist slur that demeans Native A