Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder says he's "thrilled" about the Supreme Court's decision to strike down the disparagement clause in trademark law.
The decision was not made on the merits of "Redskins" - it was about a band with Asian-American members called "The Slants" - but the ruling negates the trademark office's ruling on the Redskins case.
"The Supreme Court vindicated the team's position that the First Amendment blocks the government from denying or cancelling a trademark registration based on the government's opinion", Blatt said.
UND retired its controversial Fighting Sioux sports nickname in 2012 after the NCAA deemed it hostile and abusive to Native Americans.
Patent and Trademark Office spokesman Paul Fucito said the agency was reviewing the decision.
Tam took the case to federal court, where the relevant clause was struck down for violating the First Amendment. The team has kept use of its registrations while the case is under appeal.
A statement issued in the name of Blackhorse and four other Native American petitioners called the high court's ruling narrow: "It focused exclusively on whether the disparagement provision of the law was constitutional". Alito rejected arguments that the government has an interest in preventing speech that is offensive to certain groups.
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Snyder is a vocal proponent of Washington's team name.
"After an excruciating legal battle that has spanned almost eight years, we're beyond humbled and thrilled to have won this case at the Supreme Court", Tam said in a statement on Facebook.
This could prove to be a big win for the Washington NFL team. The band challenged the rejection as a violation of free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, winning at the appeals court level before the government appealed to the high court.
"A law that can be directed against speech found offensive to some portion of the public can be turned against minority and dissenting views to the detriment of all", Kennedy said in an opinion joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonya Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
The Redskins firmest opposition has always been the Oneida Indian Nation, who also issued a statement in response to the Supreme Court.
A study by The Washington Post a year ago found that most Native Americans weren't offended by the name. But some say the government approval of trademarks confers more than a commercial benefit and suggests tacit government approval of the slurs.
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