Articles

Can the government decline to register disparaging trademarks?

December 13, 2016 | By CALEB TROTTER

Simon Tam is the frontman of the popular Portland, Oregon, band called The Slants. A few years ago Mr. Tam sought to register The Slants as a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. While the term has traditionally been used as a derogatory slur for persons of Asian descent, Mr. Tam (an … ...