Federal appeals court decides “The Slants” case: excluding “disparaging marks” from trademark registration violates the First Amendment

A. Federal trademark law lets people register their trademarks, which gives them various legal remedies for stopping others’ infringement of those trademarks. But § 2(a) of the law excludes the registration of “scandalous, immoral, or disparaging marks.” Among other things, that provision covers marks that a “substantial composite of the referenced group” perceives as disparaging […]