Disir
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- Sep 30, 2011
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The Slants are finally going to Washington.
The Portland band's nearly six-year battle to trademark its name heads to the Supreme Court of United States on Wednesday, marking the apex of a long, complicated legal struggle.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has refused to issue the self-described "Chinatown dance rock" group a trademark, on the grounds that its moniker violates a statute against trademarks considered "scandalous, disparaging or immoral." Because the band is Asian-American, the argument is that the phrase "slant" takes on a derogatory connotation, despite the fact that the members' stated intent is to reclaim the slur and challenge Asian stereotypes.
"Words aren't equipped with venomous impact on their own," frontman Simon Tam told the Associated Press. "They have to be tied to motive and rooted in context."
Portland Band the Slants Take Their Trademark Case to the Supreme Court This Week
There comes a point when you have to look at this and say it is absolutely insane. Why is this a battle here?
The Portland band's nearly six-year battle to trademark its name heads to the Supreme Court of United States on Wednesday, marking the apex of a long, complicated legal struggle.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has refused to issue the self-described "Chinatown dance rock" group a trademark, on the grounds that its moniker violates a statute against trademarks considered "scandalous, disparaging or immoral." Because the band is Asian-American, the argument is that the phrase "slant" takes on a derogatory connotation, despite the fact that the members' stated intent is to reclaim the slur and challenge Asian stereotypes.
"Words aren't equipped with venomous impact on their own," frontman Simon Tam told the Associated Press. "They have to be tied to motive and rooted in context."
Portland Band the Slants Take Their Trademark Case to the Supreme Court This Week
There comes a point when you have to look at this and say it is absolutely insane. Why is this a battle here?