Dickinson Wright Attorney John Blattner was recently quoted in “Rock band wins in Supreme Court trademark case” article, published in
Michigan Lawyers Weekly.
On June 19, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of an Oregon rock band seeking to trademark its name, “The Slants.” Mr. Blattner followed the case for several years, and has used it to teach students at the Michigan State University College of Law.
“The statutory provision in question was clearly saying that you couldn’t register a trademark if that trademark expressed a point of view that somebody in the trademark office thought was disparaging to someone,” Mr. Blattner said. “What Justice Alito said was the First Amendment always protects people’s rights to say things other people find distasteful or even hateful. The Supreme Court really had very little difficulty coming to the same conclusion here.”
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