South Jersey Attorney Celebrates Landmark Victory Before US Supreme Court
HADDONFIELD, NJ (CBS) -- A South Jersey attorney is celebrating a victory before the nation's highest court this past week on the question of free speech protections.
Haddonfield lawyer John Connell is a partner at the Archer & Greiner law firm. He and two colleagues took up the case of the lead singer of "The Slants," who was denied trademark protection for the name because it's considered a slur against Asians. The high court unanimously decided that went too far.
"It's, from what we can tell, a landmark decision which completely changes a 70 plus year old federal statute and removes any impediment to a mark holder expressing whatever message they want to with their mark," Connell told KYW Newsradio.
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Connell believes the ruling will be far reaching, and include the ongoing battle over the use of the term "Redskins" by Washington, DC's NFL franchise.
"It facilitates the Redskins' ability to defend against the cancellation action of their mark, " he continued, "and this should be a conclusive defense to that cancellation."
Connell says his firm took up the Slants case for free because its lead singer lacked enough money to wage the battle on his own.