They Call Us Bruce - Episode 13: The Call Us The Slants

Jeff Yang and Phil Yu present an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America.



What's up, podcast listeners? We've got another episode of our podcast They Call Us Bruce. Each week, my good friend, writer/columnist Jeff Yang and I host an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America, with a strong focus on media, entertainment and popular culture.

This week, we welcome Simon Tam, front man for the embattled Asian American rock band The Slants. He talks about the eight-year fight to trademark their band name, the landmark Supreme Court ruling in their favor, and the important right for Asian Americans and other marginalized communities to call ourselves whatever we want.

The Slants win Supreme Court battle over band name

Asian American rock band wins the right to trademark their "disparaging" band name.



'The Slants have won the right to trademark their band name. The Supreme Court ruled Monday that even trademarks considered to be derogatory deserve First Amendment protection, in a ruling that could have significant impact on how speech protection is applied in other trademark cases.

Supreme Court Strikes Down Rule Against Disparaging Trademarks

The Slants' frontman, Simon Tam, filed a lawsuit after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office denied the band from registering its name, and rejected repeat appeals, citing a section of the 1946 Lanham Act, a federal law that prohibits registration of trademarks that "disparage" or "bring into contempt or disrepute" persons, institutions, beliefs or national symbols. Tam contended that the 70-year-old law violates free speech rights.

In an 8-0 ruling, the court agreed with The Slants, determining the law's disparagement clause violates the free speech clause of the First Amendment.

"The commercial market is well stocked with merchandise that disparages prominent figures and groups, and the line between commercial and non-commercial speech is not always clear, as this case illustrates," Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his opinion for the court. "If affixing the commercial label permits the suppression of any speech that may lead to political or social 'volatility,' free speech would be endangered."

The Slants win court battle over band name trademark

Federal Circuit Court rules the government cannot deny trademarks for being "disparaging."



Victory for The Slants! The Portland-based rock band, who have been embroiled in long-running legal struggle for the right to trademark their name, has scored a big victory in the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Government Can't Deny Trademarks Over Offensive Names, Appeals Court Rules

The Slants' founder and frontman Simon Tam has been locked in a widely-publicized six-year battle with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, which refused to trademark his band's name on the grounds that "slants" can be interpreted as a racial slur. At issue in the case was Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, which allows the USPTO to deny or cancel a trademark if it is "disparaging" of persons, institutions or national symbols.

On Tuesday, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that the band's name is private speech, and the USPTO's refusal to grant the "Slants" mark is a violation of Tam's First Amendment rights.

"It is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment that the government may not penalize private speech merely because it disapproves of the message it conveys," writes Federal Circuit Judge Kimberly Ann Moore. "That principle governs even when the government's message-discriminatory penalty is less than a prohibition."

The Slants to NAPABA: Stop Undermining the Work of Activists

Guest Post by Simon Tam of The Slants



On July 17, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), the South Asian Bar Association of Washington, D.C., (SABA-DC) and the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality (Korematsu Center) jointly filed an amicus brief to support the U.S. Trademark Office's denial of trademark registration for my Asian American band, The Slants.

The case has been profiled in numerous media outlets and has brought on larger questions about reappropriation, language, and identity. While there are certainly legal arguments to be had among lawyers and judges, I believe a separate conversation is necessary on the ethical implications of what transpired.

Frankly, I was surprised at NAPABA's position, because for five years, the organization and many of its members expressed deep interest in supporting The Slants. In fact, I was on a featured panel at their 2014 national convention and NAPABA (along with several of their individual chapters) have sponsored numerous events for The Slants. Earlier this May, I had multiple conversations with NAPABA president, George Chen, who said "You have many fans within NAPABA."

Federal Circuit: "The Slants" Cannot Trademark Band Name

By Jenn Fang. Cross-posted from Reappropriate.

Asian American rock band, The Slants.
Portland, Oregon-based Asian American rock band, The Slants, received some disappointing news this week when the U.S. Court of Appeals in the Federal Circuit upheld a the US Patent and Trademark Office's decision that the band's name could not be trademarked on the grounds that it is being used as a racial slur that a majority of the public would find disparaging. The Federal Circuit court agreed in the majority opinion, citing the Patent Office's Appeal Board decision where they decided that the name The Slants "would have the ‘likely meaning' of people of Asian descent but also that such meaning has been so perceived and has prompted significant responses by prospective attendees or hosts of the band's performances."

In 1946, the federal government passed the Lanaham Act, the principle legislation that governs the registration of trademarks. Among other stipulations, the Act prohibits the registration of any trademark that "consists of or comprises of immoral, deceptive, or scandalous matter; or matter which may disparage or falsely suggest a connection with persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs or national symbols, or bring them into contempt, or disrepute". Federal Circuit courts have previously interpreted this to include racial slurs such as "Heeb", "Squaw Valley", and -- of course -- the "Washington Redskins" (which is currently on appeal).

However, Simon Tam -- founder of The Slants who tweets at @SimonTheTam -- argued that despite the popular usage of the phrase "slants" as a slur when referencing Asian Americans, the band name was intended to be a subversive reappropriation of an epithet as part of their larger project to "take ownership" of anti-Asian stereotypes.

Wanted: New Lead Singer for The Slants

Portland-based all-Asian American dance rock band seeks new vocalist



Heads up. Do you have what it takes to rock with The Slants? After seven years of melting faces with three full-length albums and nearly two dozen tours and over 300 live shows around North America, the first and only all-Asian American Portland-based dance rock band is looking for a new lead singer.

The band wants a singer -- male or female -- who can kick ass with them as they spread their special brand of "Chinatown Dance Rock." You don't even have to live in the Portland area (though it's preferred). Here are some more details on who they're looking for:

The Slants versus U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

"Chinatown Dance Rock" band continues the fight to trademark its name.



I've been aware of The Slants and their trademark woes for several years now. The Portland-based "Chinatown Dance Rock" band (think New Order, Joy Division, The Killers, with an Asian American twist) has been trying to register their name with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, only to be rejected multiple times on the grounds that "slants" is a disparaging term for people of Asian descent.

The thing is, if you know anything about The Slants, they are an Asian American rock band through and through. The band members are Asian American. Their music caters to an Asian American crowd. The content of their songs are politically empowering. "The Slants," among other things, is an attempt to reclaim the slur. Hell, for what it's worth, I've even lent my name to legal documents in support of the band's name.

However, none of the band's exhaustive reasoning seems to be relevant to the Trademark Office. So The Slants are taking their fight to the next level. And their plight is starting to pick up attention from mainstream media outlets like NPR's Code Switch: