By Vijay Kumar The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) recently decided en banc that Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, which prohibits registration of “disparaging” trademarks, is unconstitutional under the First Amendment. The effects of this significant decision (In re Tam) will undoubtedly ripple across multiple industries and affect many controversial trademarks, including most notably the Washington Redskins, who are currently appealing a district court decision to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. Background for the In re Tam case dates back to November 2011 when Simon Tam filed a trademark application to register the band’s name “The Slants” for “entertainment in the nature of live performance by a musical band.” The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) Examiner refused to register the mark because it was considered disparaging to “people of Asian decent.” In reaching this decision, the Examiner, and…
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