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SCOTUS To Hear From Band The Slants For Right To Trademark Name

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A view of the Supreme Court from the Capitol Dome, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016. (Susan Walsh/AP)
A view of the Supreme Court from the Capitol Dome, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016. (Susan Walsh/AP)

The Asian-American band The Slants will appear before the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to argue for full trademark rights to their name, which is a pejorative.

The Portland band has won its case in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in which the court ruled that the Patent and Trademark Office and the Department of Justice is infringing on the group's rights to freedom of speech.

Here & Now's Robin Young speaks with Rebecca Tushnet (@rtushnet), professor of law at Georgetown Law School, about the conflict for rights to the name.

This segment aired on January 17, 2017.

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