U.S. top court to hear dispute over trademark for band The Slants

Sept 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to decide whether a federal law barring trademarks on racial slurs violates free speech rights in a case involving an Oregon band that could impact the high-profile dispute over the name of the NFL's Washington Redskins. The justices said they would hear the Obama administration's appeal of a lower court ruling last year that sided with the Portland-based Asian-American rock band The Slants in its free-speech challenge to part of the 1946 law governing federal trademarks. (Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham)