Slanted Process: US Trademark Office Says Anyone (Except Asians) Can Trademark “The Slants”

By Guest Writer | Friday, February 22, 2013 | 15 Comments

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By Simon Tam

A few years ago, I filed a trademark application for my band, The Slants. The US Trademark Office rejected it, claiming it was disparaging towards Asians. I was baffled: I’m Asian. At first, we fought it by collecting testimonies and letters of support from Asian American organizations; having several independent surveys done (they showed the majority of Asian Americans supported us), getting linguistics studies, and so on. Over the years, we have sent over 2,500 pages of evidence.

However, the Trademark Office defended their decision. They used internet sources such as urbandictionary.com, Asian joke websites, and several dictionaries from the early 1940’s.

So, we started digging deeper. Rather than focusing on their accusation of offensive behavior, we started questioning why they accused us to begin with. Afterall, “slant” can mean any number of things and the racial connotation obscure anyway. Why was did they have problems with my application but no the dozens of others who were approved? We got the answer back and it was disturbing. The issue had nothing to do with how we used the name, the decision was made based on my race.

Obviously, I believe that re-appropriation can be a powerful tool for creating social change. Sometimes, things like irony, satire, or humor are more effective in getting at difficult truths or concepts like white privilege, orientalism, and the exoticization of culture.

However, let’s push all the arguments about re-appropriation or intentions aside and focus on the real issue: people should not be denied rights because of their race.

As anti-racist essayist Tim Wise notes, institutionalized racism is the “policies, practices and procedures-both formal and informal-in which some persons typically have more or less opportunity than others…because of their respective racial identities. [It] involves denying persons opportunities…on the basis of race, to which those individuals are otherwise entitled.”

The Trademark Office admitted that the term “slant” is not an inherently offensive one; the reason why they chose to associate me with a racial slur was because “it is uncontested that applicant is a founding member of a band…composed of members of Asian descent…thus, the association.”

Their reasoning had nothing to do with our intentions or whether Asian Americans are actually disparaged, only my ethnicity. This is why “The Slants” is something that anyone can trademark, anyone except Asian Americans. This is also why you see whites trademarking terms like “chink,” “jap,” and “oriental” without even being questioned. Asians need not apply, whites only.

The deadline they gave us for our appeal was Feb 19th, anniversary of Executive Order 9066, the initiative which led to the detainment of Japanese Americans. Has the government not learned anything in 71 years?

Our case is a public record, feel free to read about it on JD Supra Law News.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Simon is best known as the founder of The Slants, the world’s first and only all-Asian American dance rock band. Simon’s approach to social justice and activism has been highlighted in thousands of media features across 82 countries, including: NPR’s “All Things Considered,” Bloomberg News, MSNBC, USA Today, Huffington Post, MTV, The Los Angeles Times, ELLE Magazine, and MyxTV.

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LTE2

“Has the government not learned anything in 71 years?”
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Yes, that lawsuits abound and it only takes one offended Asian to start one.
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JAP can also mean Jewish-American Princess. I suppose you could say the Jews are Oriental.
http://www.facebook.com/simonslant Simon Tam

Hi,

I think it’s safe to say that institutionalized racism still exists – not just in this area, but also in numerous others where disparities abound: healthcare, education, social services, employment, and so on.

Of course, JAP can be an acronym, just as “chink” can refer to more than just a Chinese person, and “slant” usually has more with perspective or an angle than an Asian, and so on. It’s biased process when only Asian American applicants are attributed these words and not whites. It’s blatant institutional racism.

As for lawsuits, the Trademark Office granting trademarks doesn’t really cause those (with the exception of Native Americans suing the NFL for “The Redskins”). Trademark law is about protecting the consumer – making sure people don’t confuse brands and so on, with the exception of the law we’re up against (Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act), which bars “immoral” marks. There’s no clarification on what that means so that’s why the government has been inconsistent and subjectively applied about this. It’s why “Clearly Queer” got a trademark but “Queer Gear” was denied. It’s why whites can trademark “slant” but Asians can’t.
angemon3690

don’t feed the troll
LTE2

“It’s biased process when only Asian American applicants are attributed these words and not whites.”
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I would think the Patent Office would reject the application on the basis of the slant is a common phrase such as “The slant on this story is”. This had happened when the Fox News Channel tried to patent “Fair and Balanced”.
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Maxwell House’s “Good to the last drop” could be patented because of it’s uniqueness.
LTE2

“don’t feed the troll”

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Too late, he did. Maybe he’ll know better next time
http://www.facebook.com/simonslant Simon Tam

There’s no rule against a common phrase or word being trademarked (different than a patent), you just have to show a distinct use (that’s why trademarks are categorized by industry.

For example, “Apple” has a trademark for their name and that’s a pretty common piece of fruit. On another note, “apple” also can a disparaging phrase used in reference to Native Americans, based on the dictionaries used by the Trademark Office.

And actually, there are a little over 60 trademarks for variations of the word “slant” out there. Oh, trademark law…
http://www.facebook.com/simonslant Simon Tam

I’m surprised no one has ever tried to trademark that.
http://www.facebook.com/simonslant Simon Tam

I never know better, it’s why I’ve been fighting this trademark for over three years!
LTE2

“There’s no rule against a common phrase or word being trademarked (different than a patent)”
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Patent can be intellectual property if connected to a process but I did have a blond moment. Mom always said I better plan on making it with my looks.

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Come to think of, maybe I’ll trademark blond moment.
http://www.facebook.com/simonslant Simon Tam

‘blond moment’ is up for grabs right now. It’s a pretty expensive process but you never know, it could come in handy!
Don

Simon For what its worth I won’t be applying for a contractor job there anymore at the US Trademark Office. For now I am content with my other job in DC.
http://www.facebook.com/simonslant Simon Tam

What kind of work do you do?
Don

I am not an attorney or work with trademarks or patents so I can’t advise you there. I work in network server administration and engineering.
http://twitter.com/ActressKisa 映画と演劇女優KISA

Unfortunately America is still a very racist country. However other countries are far worse where racism is concerned. Wonder if possible to work the system and get a white or an American Indian to trademark it and then transfer ownership later. Or do what many American businesses do, register outside the country. … Breaking Bad is sometimes the only way to go here in this country.
http://www.facebook.com/simonslant Simon Tam

We know we can but we wanted to win based on the principle that Asians should have the same rights just as any non-Asians. Hopefully other social justice activists and artists will not have the same struggle as us in the future

8 Asians