Did SCOTUS Help the Washington Redskins Retain their Name?

[Jay59]

The case is*Iancu v. Brunetti. Most articles do not list the name of the case, probably because Brunetti does business under a four letter word starting with F. However, the ruling*may be relevant to the NFL team because the case turns on objectionable business names.

Supreme Court Ruling Aids Washington Redskins in Trademark Battle - InsideHook

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[Glitch]

Ianco, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectural Property & Director, Patent & Trademake Office v. Brunetti - Syllabus, Decided June 24, 2019

Based upon the above decision the Washington Redskins cannot be denied a trademark. The government's position was that the scandalous-marks provision of 15 U.S.C. 1052(a) was "viewpoint-neutral." That government was not abridging free speech by denying a trademark, but merely not conferring an affirmative right to assist the speaker. The majority of the Supreme Court obviously disagreed.

The statute, on its face, distinguishes between two opposed sets of ideas: those aligned with conventional moral standards and those hostile to them; those inducing societal nods of approval and those provoking offense and condemnation. This facial viewpoint bias in the law results in viewpoint-discriminatory application.