Why are "The Feds" in the rock'n'roll business...?

...we've heard their stuff and it blows.



Consider this our contribution to Reason.com's Nanny of the Month feature:


Young Pacific Northwestern Asian-American lads being denied the ability to trademark their band name.


From the Daily Caller:

A six-member, Portland, Ore. band composed entirely of Asian-Americans has been fighting the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) for over four years in an effort to trademark the band’s name — “The Slants.”

When the band first applied for the trademark in 2009, the PTO refused on the grounds that the name was offensive to Asians, citing two crowd-sourced reference sites — Wikipedia and the ever-colorful Urban Dictionary — in the denial.

The PTO cites some ancient "lewd and lascivious" legislation as grounds for denial but when you also cite Urban Dictionary, you've pretty much lost us.


Exit question(s) for our legal beagles out there: In this context what's in a trademark? And given this, is there anything preventing "The Slants" from just slapping that name on their bass drum, their van and performing gigs under that name?



If this music video is any indication, then, no.






Consider ourselves troopers in Slants Army!