US Supreme Court to hear oral arguments in Lee v Tam

The US Supreme Court is due to hear oral arguments today in the Lee v Tam trademark dispute, which centres on rock band The Slants.

The Supreme Court announced on September 29 last year that it would consider the case.

It will provide guidance on whether disparaging terms can be registered as trademarks or whether refusing registration is a violation of First Amendment rights.

Under current laws, trademarks that are likely to disparage people, institutions or beliefs are barred from registration under section 2(a) of the Lanham Act.

In December last year, an en banc US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that a decision by the US Patent and Trademark Office to deny The Slants a trademark for its name violated its First Amendment rights.

Yesterday, January 17, Simon Tam, the founder and bassist of the band, tweeted an article which he wrote for broadcaster NBC News where he outlined his view of the case.

“I named the band The Slants because it represented our perspective—or slant—on life as people of colour. It was a deliberate act of claiming an identity as well as a nod to Asian-American activists who had been using the term for decades.

“Artists don’t begin their careers thinking about how to dismantle laws that they aren’t even aware of, and I’m certainly not an exception. When I first started the band, the intention was to take on stereotypes about Asian Americans, inject pride into our ethnic heritages, and increase our community’s visibility in the entertainment industry.”

He added: “We’re fighting for more than a band name: we’re fighting for the right of self-determination for all minorities.”

WIPR will provide full analysis of the first day of oral arguments later.

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