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The Slants, Asian-American band from Portland, can trademark controversial name, court rules
oregonlive ^ | 12/22/2015 | Denis C. Theriault | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Posted on 12/22/2015 3:51:46 PM PST by BenLurkin

The 110-page set of opinions by the full Federal Circuit Court of Appeals said parts of a 1946 law barring the Patent and Trademark Office from registering "disparaging" names are unconstitutional because they intrude on the private expression of free speech.

"Many of the (trademarks) rejected as disparaging convey hurtful speech that harms members of oft-stigmatized communities," the 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."

That stance, reached in a 10-2 vote, marks a milestone after several rounds of legal battles by the band's bassist and founder, Simon Tam

(Excerpt) Read more at oregonlive.com ...


TOPICS: Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS:
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To: BenLurkin

This is discussable?


21 posted on 12/22/2015 4:31:17 PM PST by loungitude (The truth hurts.)
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To: BenLurkin

Finally some sanity. The government has gone too far in trying to control every word. There are even thought crimes that draw hefty prison terms.


22 posted on 12/22/2015 4:35:29 PM PST by apocalypto
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To: BenLurkin

Slants is taken? Can we drop the N and spell it with a U?

23 posted on 12/22/2015 4:35:57 PM PST by Michael.SF. (This tagline lists all of Hilary's accomplishments............................)
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To: BenLurkin

LOL!
Uncle Kracker is a white guy also. Offensive I’m sure!


24 posted on 12/22/2015 4:42:00 PM PST by Roman_War_Criminal
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To: cripplecreek

“Sounds like a slippery slope to me.”

I could find pictures, but the “good” ones would get me banned.


25 posted on 12/22/2015 4:44:45 PM PST by PLMerite (The Revolution...will not be kind.)
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To: sagar
Heh...my father, long gone now, was known as "Chink" as a teenager, because from certain angles -- and the circular eyeglasses of the 20's and 30's era -- he indeed looked like a chinaman....

Back to thread topic, I wonder if Donald Trump could say "Shlonging Slants" 3 times quickly....

26 posted on 12/22/2015 5:19:53 PM PST by ErnBatavia (It ain't a "hashtag"....it's a damn pound sign. ###)
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To: BenLurkin

This is definitely a slippery Slope.


27 posted on 12/22/2015 5:22:35 PM PST by Lazamataz (It has gotten to the point where any report from standard news outlets must be fact-checked.)
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To: cripplecreek
In the 60's Marine Corps, the Viets were known as Slants, Zips (short for Zipperheads), and Slopes (short for Slopeheads)....

Lingo changes -- back then, the soul brother jarheads were "Splibs" (among both white and black juggies)..

28 posted on 12/22/2015 5:22:43 PM PST by ErnBatavia (It ain't a "hashtag"....it's a damn pound sign. ###)
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To: doorgunner69; cripplecreek

I hate you both.


29 posted on 12/22/2015 5:22:59 PM PST by Lazamataz (It has gotten to the point where any report from standard news outlets must be fact-checked.)
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To: Lazamataz

You’re welcome.


30 posted on 12/22/2015 5:28:27 PM PST by cripplecreek (Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.)
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To: BenLurkin

The writer is biased.


31 posted on 12/22/2015 5:31:00 PM PST by Larry Lucido
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To: BenLurkin

Maybe they’ll cover Rod Stewart’s “Every Picture Tells a Story”

I moved right out east yeah!
On the Peking ferry I was feeling merry
sailing on my way back here
I fell in love with a slit eyed lady
by the light of an eastern moon
Shangai Lil never used the pill
She claimed that it just ain’t natural
She took me up on deck and bit my neck
Oh people I was glad I found her
Oh yeah I was glad I found her


32 posted on 12/22/2015 5:32:21 PM PST by dfwgator
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To: ErnBatavia

I had to (well, maybe I didn’t HAVE to) search on Zipperhead. Korean war origin, popular in Vietnam. One possible origin was driving over their dead bodies with tire tracks, with the tracks looking like zippers. (I don’t know about that one.)

Other was machine-gun fire rising up their heads. Other that seems more scientific (not sure if true), but said the mongloid skull structure caused their heads to split open when hit with rifle fire.


33 posted on 12/22/2015 5:39:04 PM PST by 21twelve (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2185147/posts It is happening again.)
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To: BenLurkin

The court is wrong. Trademarks, Patents, Copyrights, and other ip protections are not about free speech.

IP law is based on the consent of the governed voluntarily relinquishing rights to others by rewarding innovation with the ability to profit financially and thus contributing to the advancement and progress of arts and sciences.

Free speech has NOTHING to do with granting limited monopolies on specific speech. In fact, it is the opposite. It is the limitation of speech and the press. For example, only the copyright owner can authorize the distribution of movies on digital disks or online streaming. I am not FREE to disseminate them. And this is a limitation on my free speech, but a reasonable and legal one.


34 posted on 12/22/2015 6:29:02 PM PST by unlearner (RIP America, 7/4/1776 - 6/26/2015, "Only God can judge us now." - Claus Von Stauffenberg / Valkyrie)
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To: BenLurkin

The First Amendment trumps Political Correctness. Congratulations to the Slants, the Redskins, and all freedom-loving Americans.


35 posted on 12/22/2015 6:35:26 PM PST by Repeal 16-17 (Let me know when the Shooting starts.)
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To: unlearner
The court is wrong. Trademarks, Patents, Copyrights, and other ip protections are not about free speech.

All federal, State, and local government action is subject to the First Amendment. A group's name is a way it expresses what is its identity. To punish that group (in this case by denying trademark protection) for the content of that expression definitely violates the right to free speech.

36 posted on 12/22/2015 6:47:16 PM PST by Repeal 16-17 (Let me know when the Shooting starts.)
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To: Repeal 16-17

No it does not. They are mutually exclusive. The courts have been wrong for a long time on this.

The purpose of free speech is entirely different from the right to be able to earn money from speech, ideas, inventions, or any other similar intellectual property right via a government created monopoly.

Granting trademark status denies MY ability to use this particular speech because now it infringes on the trademark holder’s “rights”. But this right is not a natural right like free speech is.

If the court had disallowed this trademark the band could still have called themselves the same name. No one would arrest them. No one would fine them. And any other band could use the same name which would be allowing MORE free speech than this ruling did.

Intellectual property LIMITS the rights of those who do not own the property.

Before this ruling anyone could form a band and call themselves this. Now only one band can do so legally within the jurisdiction the trademark is registered. This may further paid speech for one tiny group, but it limits free speech for the rest of us.

The court ruled incorrectly.


37 posted on 12/22/2015 7:19:47 PM PST by unlearner (RIP America, 7/4/1776 - 6/26/2015, "Only God can judge us now." - Claus Von Stauffenberg / Valkyrie)
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To: unlearner

“Intellectual property LIMITS the rights of those who do not own the property.”

You’re a lunatic.

L


38 posted on 12/22/2015 7:24:39 PM PST by Lurker (Violence is rarely the answer. But when it is it is the only answer.)
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To: Lurker

Come back when you have something intellectually honest to add.

Name calling is what liberals and those intellectually unable to make an argument resort to.

Or perhaps reading more than a one-liner made you dizzy because it requires waking from a drunken stupor long enough to activate a brain cell.

Sleep off your drunken stupor and feel free to join in when your cognitive abilities return.


39 posted on 12/22/2015 7:30:34 PM PST by unlearner (RIP America, 7/4/1776 - 6/26/2015, "Only God can judge us now." - Claus Von Stauffenberg / Valkyrie)
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To: unlearner

So you believe the First Amendment prohibits trademarks? How about patents and copyrights?


40 posted on 12/22/2015 7:32:20 PM PST by Repeal 16-17 (Let me know when the Shooting starts.)
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