Every business has to deal with the issue of trademark. If you want to open an a

Question

Every business has to deal with the issue of trademark. If you want to open an adult toy store and name it Victor's Secret, you need to worry about infringing on Victoria's Secret's tradename (which is also their trademark). Let's say you want to open a food cart that serves pastries and coffee, and you call it Starbang. Well, you should worry about Starbuck's attorneys sending you a threatening letter. You may encounter legal problems if your business name is similar to an existing business name, whether or not you've registered that name with the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).

If you want to register your business name with the PTO, you have to satisfy all the requirements before your application is granted. It could be denied for many reasons, as the two cases you are about to read illustrate.

Please read the following articles first then answer the questions below:

-Asian-American Band Fights to Trademark the Name "The Slants" from NPR.

-US Patent Office Cancels Redskins Trademark Registration, Saying Name is Disparaging from the Washington Post

-Both the band and NFL team appealed their trademark denial to the US Supreme Court. The Court denied the NFL team's appeal, but accepted The Slant's case and handed the band a victory in June 2017.

Please answer the following questions:

-The Patent and Trademark Office thought "The Slants" is so disparaging and racially offensive that it should not be trademarked. ----The U.S. Supreme Court doesn't think so. Who do you agree with? The PTO or U.S. Supreme Court? Why?

-Do you think the Patent and Trademark Office was correct in its decision to cancel the trademark registration of "Redskin" because it was disparaging? Why?

Explanation / Answer

The Asian-American Band who has been trying to trademark their band name which got accepted by the Supreme Court in 2017. The PTO rejected the case because of the disparity in the name as it is a racial dispute. I support the Government decision of the US Supreme Court for accepting their trademark. The Government in order to provide justice to all the communities granted the trademark as they want it as a symbol of pride and moreover, the members of The Slants identify themselves with the name and they want to remove the negativity attached with the slanted eyes.  

For the Washington Redskins, a lot of Native Americans have protested as they feel redskin is offensive but it has been there since 1932. The Federal Law prohibited in terms of racial slurs. There is a lot of public pressure to change the name. But, I feel the Supreme Court has ignored the appeal of the Redskins as the public protest can challenge the court's decision and it can lead to several strikes. If there are no protests and assurance that Indian Americans do not have any issue with the name, then the Supreme Court could have agreed like for The Slants.

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