Posted on 06/19/2017 8:02:07 AM PDT by COBOL2Java
WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court on Monday struck down part of a law that bans offensive trademarks in a ruling that is expected to help the Washington Redskins in their legal fight over the team name.
The justices ruled that the 71-year-old trademark law barring disparaging terms infringes free speech rights.
The ruling is a victory for the Asian-American rock band called the Slants, but the case was closely watched for the impact it would have on the separate dispute involving the Washington football team.
Slants founder Simon Tam tried to trademark the band name in 2011, but the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office denied the request on the ground that it disparages Asians. A federal appeals court in Washington later said the law barring offensive trademarks is unconstitutional.
The Redskins made similar arguments after the trademark office ruled in 2014 that the name offends American Indians and canceled the teams trademark. A federal appeals court in Richmond put the teams case on hold while waiting for the Supreme Court to rule in the Slants case.
(Excerpt) Read more at wtop.com ...
It’s a long article, but here is part of it...
I once posted an article on the web in which I referred collectively to people from China, Japan, and the Koreas as “Oriental”. I got an email from someone who informed me that this is an offensive term and that I should call such people by the specific country of origin — “Chinese” or whatever — or collectively as “Asians”. She claimed that “Oriental” refers to an object, like “an Oriental vase”, and is insulting when applied to a person.
I consider “Asian” inappropriate as it would include Siberians, Afghans, Pakistanis, etc. And of course “Chinese” is unacceptable if you want to include Japanese, Koreans, and related cultures.
So my question is: Do people from this part of the world really find the word “Oriental” offensive? If so, what term do they prefer for themselves? I’d be particularly interested in hearing from someone who actually is of Japanese, Chinese, etc., background, rather than an American or European saying what he thinks someone else thinks.
(Frankly I thought the argument about “Oriental” applying to an object was a little curious. I call myself an “American”. I don’t find it at all offensive that the same word used to describe me as a human being is also used to describe objects, like “American cars”, “American food”, etc. Both people and objects can be from the same physical place, so I don’t see any problem with using the same adjective to describe both. But maybe there are different connotations to the word “Oriental”. )
single-word-requests terminology nonsubjective ethnonyms
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Oriental is quite offensive to many Asian Americans (though I can’t say all, but as an Asian American it offends me and my friends). Its antiquated—it used to be acceptable, but now it isn’t. I don’t have the research in front of me, but itd be like calling an African American the n word and thinking it’s still ok simchona Dec 15 ‘11 at 15:53
BTW, I am NOT “politically Correct”...Hence my tagline...:^)
It smelled like the Asspress. Voila.
https://twitter.com/sjwbullshit
Oh, boy. Now we have a constitutional right to walk into Drunken Brawling Mick’s bar and ask for a bottle of Nigger Stout, and invest our money in the Greedy Joooo! Mutual Fund. We live in interesting times.
Oh, boy. Now we have a constitutional right to walk into Drunken Brawling Mick’s bar and ask for a bottle of Nigger Stout, and invest our money in the Greedy Joooo! Mutual Fund. We live in interesting times.
I’d rather be offended than have the govt control speech save the criminal nature of threats.
Trademarks fall into the unique situation where the govt is helping to protect the exclusive use of speech as property. Curious if/how the FCC would respond to 4-letter trademarks.
True but we also have the right to not patronize these. And in the meantime the bureaucrats don’t get to arbitrarily censor people.
Now they should go after “hate speech.”
Probably a different race of people, spiritually.
As far as I am concerned, there is no constitutional right to trademark, and Congress can limit federal registration of trademark (as it does copyright and patent) in any way it sees fit, for the public good. Absence of federally registered trademark does NOT infringe on free speech, and does not infringe on common law or state registered trademark.
Goresuch didn't vote, because the case was argued before he was appointed.
BTW, the result was unanimous, but there are actually 3 separate opinions-- I haven't read them yet, but there is apparently some disagreement as to the rationale.
“No one would name a time N* so why Redskins?”
The reality is that now we can establish an all-black NBA team called, let’s say, the Nashville Ni**ers. I’ll bet, if they WON some games, that such a team would have HUGE black support, because they would be perceived as underdogs, struggling for a chance!
Anyone want to finance such a start-up team?
There was a pro baseball team called the Black Crackers made up entirely of Negroes.
There used to be a high school team named the Frisco Coons.
And if you want a blatant case of cultural appropriation, what about Ole Miss having a Black Colonel Rebel?
Will eventually be extended to stop states from banning or refusing to issue offensive personal vehicle license plates?
“Where are lines drawn? If Redskins is offensive, then based on these criteria, Boston Celtics is offensive. So is Minnesota Vikings. Both are ethnic nicknames.”
If I were a baseball player I’d be offended to play for a team with a pejorative name like “The Yankee’s”
Last year, a FReeper suggested changing the Redskin “Indian” logo to a potato. ;)
[offensive trademarks]
Oh darn. So we HAD to sit through “I’m with her”.
Darn it.
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