Football Federal Judge Orders Cancellation of Redskins' Trademark Registrations - Page 2

RunKC · 07-08-2015, 10:47 AM

Federal judge orders cancellation of Redskins’ trademark registrations
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google Plus Share via Email More Options

Resize Text Print Article Comments 395
Who is open to changing the Redskins’ name?
View Photos PHOTOS | More and more people are saying the NFL franchise for Washington should change its name. Here are a few of them.
By Ian Shapira July 8 at 9:43 AM
The Washington Redskins lost their biggest legal and public relations battle yet in the war over their name after a federal judge in Northern Virginia on Wednesday ordered the cancellation of the NFL team’s federal trademark registrations, which have been opposed for decades by many Native Americans who feel the moniker disparages their race.

The cancellation doesn’t go into effect until the Redskins have exhausted the appeals process in the federal court system. But even if the Redskins ultimately take the case to the Supreme Court and lose, the team can still use “Redskins” and seek trademark protections under state law. The team has argued, however, that a cancellation of its trademarks could taint its brand and remove legal benefits that would protect against copycat entrepreneurs.

U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee’s decision affirmed an earlier ruling by the federal Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Last year, the appeal board declared in a 2-to-1 vote that the team’s moniker is offensive to Native Americans and therefore ineligible under the Lanham Act for status in the federal trademark registry. The appeal board had been petitioned by five Native American activists, including Amanda Blackhorse, a Navajo Nation member from Arizona who is well known for leading protests against the team outside stadiums wherever it plays.

[U.S. patent office cancels Redskins trademark registrations, saying name is disparaging to Native Americans]

The Redskins tried to overturn the appeal board’s ruling in August by suing Blackhorse and the four other Native American activists in federal court in Alexandria, Va. The team argued that the Lanham Act conflicted with its First Amendment rights. It also contended that Blackhorse didn’t prove that enough Native Americans opposed the name at the time the team registered its trademarks in 1967, 1974, 1978 and 1990.

VIEW GRAPHIC
Where notable people stand on the Redskins’ name
A Washington Redskins spokesman said the team is reviewing the decision and considering its legal options.

Jesse Witten, one of the attorneys for the Native Americans, celebrated the judge’s ruling.

“This is a huge victory. Getting this ruling from a U.S. District judge is a watershed event,” Witten said, adding that he doesn’t expect the war to be over anytime soon. “The team has been fighting this case so hard and leaving no stone unturned and scorching every square inch of earth that it’s hard to imagine they will not appeal.”

The Redskins have been waging a legal war to defend their federal trademark registrations for more than two decades. The fight began in 1992, when a group of Native Americans led by Suzan Shown Harjo filed a petition with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to strip the team’s name of its registrations. Seven years later, the panel ruled in Harjo’s favor.

But the Redskins appealed in federal court, winning on the grounds that Harjo and the other Native Americans didn’t produce enough evidence showing the name was insulting and that they waited too long after turning 18 years old — legally adults — to claim the name is offensive.

Before that case was lost, Blackhorse and four other young Native Americans from Florida, Utah and Oklahoma had filed their own petition with the trademark appeal board in August 2006.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...d55_story.html

Coochie liquor · 07-09-2015, 04:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J Diddy

I suggest they change their name to the Washington Whooping Cranes.

The Washington Wallabys!!

Sweet Daddy Hate · 07-09-2015, 04:32 AM

Restore sanity to the US, please.

scho63 · 07-09-2015, 05:41 AM

This is just the beginning folks in this overly PC World we live in.....

cron912 · 07-09-2015, 08:29 AM

The Washington Wankers

**petegz28** · 07-09-2015, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cave Johnson

Maybe, but they're just following the law. Trademark law "expressly prohibits registration of disparaging terms".

what is disparaging?

**Gonzo** · 07-09-2015, 08:56 AM

"Washington Redskins, go **** yourself."

**DaneMcCloud** · 07-09-2015, 11:04 AM

Now that the trademark has been cancelled, they'll essentially be forced to change the name. Otherwise, all sorts of non-NFL approved merchandise will be for sale at local shops and of course, the internet, which will put a dent in Washington's (and the NFL's) revenue stream.

Sweet Daddy Hate · 07-09-2015, 06:17 PM

I'd just change it "Reds".

Ha!

aturnis · 07-09-2015, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Detoxing

I wonder if black people are offended by the name "blackfoot" indians. They should sue the tribe for such an offensive name.

What? Holy shit this dumb as ****. Do you even understand context? Let alone the historical significance of the term redskin?

Jim Lahey · 07-09-2015, 06:39 PM

Didn't they just do a poll here in the last year and 90 something % of Native Americans didn't care that the name Redskins is used?

I've heard more whites bitching about it than Native Americans.

JoeyChuckles · 07-09-2015, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Lahey

Didn't they just do a poll here in the last year and 90 something % of Native Americans didn't care that the name Redskins is used?

I've heard more whites bitching about it than Native Americans.

Totally something a whiteskin would say.

**DaneMcCloud** · 07-09-2015, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeyChuckles

Totally something a whiteskin would say.

It's always curious when white people and Christians get offended, yet those same people think that African Americans, Mexicans and anyone different from them should "Just get over it".

**RealSNR** · 07-09-2015, 10:36 PM

Why do some people on here get upset over the idea that the Redskins will be changed? They're not your team. They can become the Washington Man****ers for all I care.

**RealSNR** · 07-09-2015, 10:37 PM

Also, where's Rain Man?

The Ermines dream is NOT dead

**DaneMcCloud** · 07-09-2015, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SNR

Why do some people on here get upset over the idea that the Redskins will be changed? They're not your team. They can become the Washington Man****ers for all I care.

Because people on Chiefsplanet get upset by ANY change to the world in which they live.

It's never right to be on the wrong side of history and this is definitely one of those times.

07-08-2015, 10:47 AM
RunKC Andy Reid Supporter Join Date: Apr 2012 Casino cash: $2249611	Federal Judge Orders Cancellation of Redskins' Trademark Registrations Federal judge orders cancellation of Redskins’ trademark registrations Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google Plus Share via Email More Options Resize Text Print Article Comments 395 Who is open to changing the Redskins’ name? View Photos PHOTOS \| More and more people are saying the NFL franchise for Washington should change its name. Here are a few of them. By Ian Shapira July 8 at 9:43 AM The Washington Redskins lost their biggest legal and public relations battle yet in the war over their name after a federal judge in Northern Virginia on Wednesday ordered the cancellation of the NFL team’s federal trademark registrations, which have been opposed for decades by many Native Americans who feel the moniker disparages their race. The cancellation doesn’t go into effect until the Redskins have exhausted the appeals process in the federal court system. But even if the Redskins ultimately take the case to the Supreme Court and lose, the team can still use “Redskins” and seek trademark protections under state law. The team has argued, however, that a cancellation of its trademarks could taint its brand and remove legal benefits that would protect against copycat entrepreneurs. U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee’s decision affirmed an earlier ruling by the federal Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Last year, the appeal board declared in a 2-to-1 vote that the team’s moniker is offensive to Native Americans and therefore ineligible under the Lanham Act for status in the federal trademark registry. The appeal board had been petitioned by five Native American activists, including Amanda Blackhorse, a Navajo Nation member from Arizona who is well known for leading protests against the team outside stadiums wherever it plays. [U.S. patent office cancels Redskins trademark registrations, saying name is disparaging to Native Americans] The Redskins tried to overturn the appeal board’s ruling in August by suing Blackhorse and the four other Native American activists in federal court in Alexandria, Va. The team argued that the Lanham Act conflicted with its First Amendment rights. It also contended that Blackhorse didn’t prove that enough Native Americans opposed the name at the time the team registered its trademarks in 1967, 1974, 1978 and 1990. VIEW GRAPHIC Where notable people stand on the Redskins’ name A Washington Redskins spokesman said the team is reviewing the decision and considering its legal options. Jesse Witten, one of the attorneys for the Native Americans, celebrated the judge’s ruling. “This is a huge victory. Getting this ruling from a U.S. District judge is a watershed event,” Witten said, adding that he doesn’t expect the war to be over anytime soon. “The team has been fighting this case so hard and leaving no stone unturned and scorching every square inch of earth that it’s hard to imagine they will not appeal.” The Redskins have been waging a legal war to defend their federal trademark registrations for more than two decades. The fight began in 1992, when a group of Native Americans led by Suzan Shown Harjo filed a petition with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to strip the team’s name of its registrations. Seven years later, the panel ruled in Harjo’s favor. But the Redskins appealed in federal court, winning on the grounds that Harjo and the other Native Americans didn’t produce enough evidence showing the name was insulting and that they waited too long after turning 18 years old — legally adults — to claim the name is offensive. Before that case was lost, Blackhorse and four other young Native Americans from Florida, Utah and Oklahoma had filed their own petition with the trademark appeal board in August 2006. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...d55_story.html
Posts: 46,084

07-09-2015, 04:32 AM	#17
Sweet Daddy Hate Unsparing Join Date: Aug 2008 Casino cash: $10004900	Restore sanity to the US, please. __________________ 1. Merciless, severe. 2. Given freely and generously. 100% refusal to overrate 20 year Head Coaches with ZERO **ing rings as a Head Coach. CP's Official Professor of 'Dem Blues for 2019/2020!**
Posts: 77,135

07-09-2015, 05:41 AM	#18
scho63 Politically Incorrect Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Scottsdale, AZ Casino cash: $2771110	This is just the beginning folks in this overly PC World we live in..... __________________ *"The only difference between sex for free and sex for money is that sex for free costs you a WHOLE LOT more!"* ~Redd Foxx~ ~~2018 2019 2020 20212022 2023~~ 2024 Adopt a Chief - Clark Hunt and Brett Veach "The men who drafted Patrick Mahomes"
Posts: 50,509

07-09-2015, 08:29 AM	#19
cron912 Starter Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Kansas Casino cash: $6631856	The Washington Wankers
Posts: 183

07-09-2015, 11:04 AM	#22
DaneMcCloud Supporter Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Hollywood, CA Casino cash: $10053648	Now that the trademark has been cancelled, they'll essentially be forced to change the name. Otherwise, all sorts of non-NFL approved merchandise will be for sale at local shops and of course, the internet, which will put a dent in Washington's (and the NFL's) revenue stream.
Posts: 88,960

07-09-2015, 06:17 PM	#23
Sweet Daddy Hate Unsparing Join Date: Aug 2008 Casino cash: $10004900	I'd just change it "Reds". Ha! __________________ 1. Merciless, severe. 2. Given freely and generously. 100% refusal to overrate 20 year Head Coaches with ZERO **ing rings as a Head Coach. CP's Official Professor of 'Dem Blues for 2019/2020!**
Posts: 77,135

07-09-2015, 06:39 PM	#25
Jim Lahey The shit-winds are blowin Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Sunnyvale trailer park Casino cash: $10013647	Didn't they just do a poll here in the last year and 90 something % of Native Americans didn't care that the name Redskins is used? I've heard more whites bitching about it than Native Americans.
Posts: 637