Redskins Get Good News in Trademark Battle

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY SportsSome news out of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals may bode well for the Redskins in their trademark case.

The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals ruled portions of the Lanham Act unconstitutional on Tuesday, specifically striking down the trademark-related provision that allows the government to refuse to grant (or to cancel) "disparaging" marks.

If that sounds familiar, it's because this is the same piece of the law used to cancel the Washington Redskins trademarks.

The case before the Federal Circuit, In Re Simon Shiao Tam, dealt with a band known as the "Slants." As "Slants" is also a potentially disparaging word referring to people of Asian descent (a word…