The Supreme Court affirmed Monday that terms or phrases deemed to be offensive are still protected as free speech under the First Amendment. The high court unanimously struck down a disparagement provision of federal trademark law in Matal v. Tam, a case in which the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) denied an Asian-American rock band a trademark for their name “The Slants” because they found the name to be offensive.
Simon Tam, the band’s lead singer, says he chose the name to reclaim the “slants” slur and “drain its denigrating force as a derogatory term for Asian persons.”
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