News & Analysis as of

Trademark Registration NFL

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

MarkIt to Market® – July 2024: Quarterbacks Face Off in Trademark Bowl

NFL quarterbacks are known for going head to head on the gridiron, but two of the NFL’s top QB’s are now squaring off in the trademark arena. Earlier this month, Lamar Jackson filed two oppositions against FL101, a company...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

MarkIt to Market® - Recent Updates on the NFL and Intellectual Property

With three games on Thanksgiving Day and another on Black Friday, the NFL was likely a predominant discussion point in many households this past holiday weekend. However, these discussions were probably focused on the actual...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

MarkIt to Market® - November 2023

Thank you for reading the November 2023 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we discuss the USPTO's recently published alert reminding filers and practitioners of its Code of Conduct when...more

Lerman Senter PLLC

Broadcasts and Promotions Related to the Super Bowl

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Super Bowl LVII (57) will be held on February 12, 2023 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The NFL carefully protects its copyrights and trademarks. If your broadcast station plans to conduct promotions or contests...more

Jaburg Wilk

Trademark Trolls Circling Redskins Unlikely to See Big Pay Day

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For decades, the Washington Redskins’ name has been the center of controversy, both in federal court and in the court of public opinion. Native American groups have long decried the name as a racial slur and have challenged...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

All Publicity May Not Be Good Publicity: Risky Timing of IP Filings Based on Sports Success

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The NFL playoffs are underway and teams and their fans are riding high: eight teams still have a chance of making the Super Bowl. Now could be the perfect time to protect the team slogan or motto that fans will love for years...more

Mintz - Trademark & Copyright Viewpoints

After the Supreme Court Touchdown, Washington Redskins Are Finally Winning at the Fourth Circuit and the PTO

Two incredible things happened in 1992 for the NFL football team Washington Redskins. It won the Super Bowl and applied to register a trademark Washington Redskins. It has not been so lucky ever since. It has not won another...more

Foster Garvey PC

The Washington Redskins Win Their Trademark Battle in Overtime

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Simon Tam of the Asian rock band, The Slants, probably was not envisioning an 8-year-long legal battle when he chose the group’s name. Slant is known as a racial slur for Asians. Tam hoped to strip the term of its derogatory...more

CMCP - California Minority Counsel Program

In Matal V. Tam, Scotus Rules Prohibition On Disparaging Trademarks Unconstitutional

The Asian American members of the band the Slants adopted that name to “reclaim” and “take ownership” of the derogatory term. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) refused to register a trademark application...more

McAfee & Taft

Free speech legal battle changes law on disparaging trademarks

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Last month, in Matal v. Tam, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the Federal Circuit Court of Appeal’s decision that struck down a portion of Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act....more

Perkins Coie

Supreme Court Holds Disparagement Clause Unconstitutional

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In a much anticipated decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Matal v. Tam, 582 U.S. ___ (June 19, 2017) that a provision of the Lanham Act banning the registration of marks considered disparaging to “persons, institutions,...more

Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP

If You Have Nothing Nice to Say, Say ®

On June 19, the Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional a provision of the Lanham Act prohibiting federal registration of disparaging trademarks. The Court’s ruling in Matal v. Tam, 582 U.S. ___, No. 15-1298 (June 19,...more

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Brands that Bite - The Supreme Court unanimously rules that the First Amendment forbids the Trademark Office from refusing to...

By striking down the “disparagement clause,” a 70-year-old provision of federal trademark law, the Supreme Court’s ruling this week in Matal v. Tam has the potential to change the ways in which people conceive, market,...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Making Your Mark

Of Slants, Skins, And Signs: Section 2(a) Prohibition of Disparaging Trademark Registrations Struck Down!

Well, that happened! According to the Supreme Court’s opinion in Matal v. Tam, Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, which purports to prohibit the registration of marks that “disparage . . . persons,” is unconstitutional. ...more

Lewitt Hackman

Disparaging, Degrading, Derogatory Trademarks: They're Now Enforceable Says Supreme Court

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You may remember that several national sports franchises are under fire for trademarks and branding that is seen to be racially disparaging. The Washington Redskins are the first team to come to mind, and it wasn’t too long...more

Jones Day

Siding with The Slants: Ban on Disparaging Marks Held Unconstitutional

Jones Day on

Asian rock band The Slants is no longer "The Band Who Must Not Be Named," as they titled their most recent album. On June 19, 2017, the United States Supreme Court decided Matal v. Tam, striking a provision of the Lanham Act,...more

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

Supreme Court Holds that First Amendment Protects Disparaging Trademarks

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This week, the U.S. Supreme Court emphasized the importance of broad free speech protection in striking down a statute that allows the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to refuse registration of disparaging trademarks....more

Fenwick & West LLP

Supreme Court Rocks the Trademark Office in “Slants” Case

Fenwick & West LLP on

After a streak of six patent decisions uniformly overruling the Federal Circuit, and for the first time all term, the Supreme Court finally handed the Federal Circuit a win this week. In its landmark ruling in Matal v. Tam...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

In Victory for The Slants, U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Lanham Act’s Disparagement Clause

In Matal v. Tam, the United States Supreme Court struck a provision of the Lanham Act that has been used to deny federal registration of trademarks deemed disparaging to “persons, . . . institutions, beliefs, or national...more

Akerman LLP - Marks, Works & Secrets

Supreme Court: Disparaging Speech Protected By First Amendment Lanham Section 2(a) Unconstitutional: A Win for the Slants and the...

In a unanimous (albeit fractured) decision written by Justice Alito, the United States Supreme struck down a provision of the Lanham (Trademark) Act barring registration of “disparaging” trademarks, handing a victory to...more

Mintz - Trademark & Copyright Viewpoints

Matal v. Tam: U.S. Supreme Court Holds Prohibition on Disparaging Trademarks Unconstitutional under First Amendment

In a unanimous decision handed down on June 19th, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional a long-standing prohibition against federal registration of “disparaging” trademarks, finding that the this provision of...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Even Disparaging Trademarks are Registerable

The Supreme Court recently ruled 8-0 that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) can no longer refuse to register trademarks because it deems them “disparaging” pursuant to a section of the federal trademark statute. ...more

Womble Bond Dickinson

Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Slants Rock Band

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On Monday, June 19, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court (“SCOTUS”) invalidated a 70-year-old provision of U.S. trademark law that previously barred registration of “offensive” trademarks. The high court held that the federal...more

Jackson Walker

Upon Further Review: Supreme Court Ruling Means “Redskins” Trademark Registrations Are Still In Play

Jackson Walker on

This week the U.S. Supreme Court held the “disparagement clause” – a federal trademark provision that prohibits the registration of a trademark “which may disparage” . . . persons, . . . , institutions, . . . beliefs, or...more

Sherman & Howard L.L.C.

Intellectual Property Update: High Court Rules That Trademark Registration May Not Be Denied Due To Offensiveness

In an 8-0 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court this week struck down a provision of the federal Lanham Act prohibiting the registration of trademarks that may “disparage . . . or bring . . . into contemp[t] or disrepute” any...more

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