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16 March 2016Trademarks

Federal Circuit orders the USPTO to respond to The Slants’ writ

The US Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) decision to not process ‘The Slants’ trademark application came under fire yesterday after the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit demanded it to respond to the band’s request to publish the mark for opposition.

The USPTO has a week to respond to the band’s writ which accused the office of “ flatly refusing to comply with rulings” in its favour.

In December, an en banc federal circuit declared that the disparagement provision of section 2(a) of the Lanham Act was unconstitutional, paving the way for the registration of ‘The Slants’ trademark.

However, in light of the December ruling, the USPTO has suspended all applications that may be considered disparaging, scandalous and immoral pending a decision from the US Supreme Court.So far, the USPTO has not filed a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court, but has signalled its intent to do so in internal documents.

In its latest intervention, the federal circuit has ordered the USPTO to provide a response by March 23.

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