On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that a law denying federal trademark protection to names that are deemed disparaging is unconstitutional. “It offends a bedrock First Amendment principle: Speech may not be banned on the ground that it expresses ideas that offend,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the unanimous decision (though the justices were split on the exact reasoning).

While many observers saw the case as a potential win for the Washington Redskins — who have sought to keep their trademarks in the face of claims that the team name is a racial slur — the decision actually concerned the Slants, a small Asian-American band from Oregon that describes its style as “Chinatown dance rock.”

The group, whose latest release is called “The Band Who Must Not Be Named,” first had its trademark rejected in 2010 on the grounds that it was hurtful to a stigmatized community; the Slants contended that the name was simply reclaiming a weaponized term, and that marginalized groups should “determine what’s best for ourselves.”

In the years of court battles that followed, the Slants and their frontman, Simon Tam, received support from organizations like the Asian American Legal Defense Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union. Others, like Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC), noted in a neutral amicus brief that “socially progressive reclamation movements are not an excuse to open federal trademark registration to vile epithets and hateful marks.”