Washington Redskins: Fallout from Supreme Court ruling in key case

In a long awaited decision directly affecting the Redskins pending trademark case, a unanimous panel of eight justices of the United States Supreme Court ruled that a provision of the Lanham Act barring registration of “disparaging” trademarks ran afoul of the free speech protections of the First Amendment.

The Lanham Act is the federal law regulating trademarks. The team’s case, which was brought against Amanda Blackhorse, is currently being heard by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Court’s decision arose out of the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (“PTO”) reliance on the Act’s anti-disparagement provision in rejecting an Asian rock band’s application to trademark its band…