What’s in a name? The USPTO’s slanted viewpoint on trademark applications

For over 3 years now, Asian-American rock band, The Slants, has been making noise in the courts while fighting for the right to register the band's trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The band's battle started in 2013 when the USPTO determined that the "The Slants" was disparaging to Asian Americans and refused registration of the mark. For the past 70 years, the USPTO has used Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act to deny registration of marks that it deems to be immoral, scandalous, or disparaging. Perhaps most notably, the USPTO relied on section 2(a) when it...