Judge orders cancellation of Redskins trademark registration – San Jose

The team has faced mounting pressure in recent years to ditch its name altogether, which is considered a slur against Native Americans.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) – A federal judge has ordered the Patent and Trademark Office to cancel registration of the Washington Redskins’ trademark, ruling that the team name may be disparaging to Native Americans.

“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 team will have to illustrate that they have always used the logos, rather than relying on official, federal trademark registrations. The ruling backs up the earlier administrative appeal board finding.

A spokesperson for the Redskins told the Post that the team was considering its legal options in the wake of the decision. He found that the six trademarks at issue “consisted of matter that “may disparage” a substantial composite of Native Americans”. As the Washington Post points out, though, “even if the Redskins ultimately took the case to the Supreme Court and lost, the team can still use “Redskins” and seek trademark protections under state law”. The argument stated that having the trademark canceled stepped on their rights to free-speech due to the necessity for the government to rule if a name is offensive or not.

Jesse Witten, one of the attorneys for the Native American activists who brought the case before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, said: “This is a huge victory”. Critics say the “Redskins” name perpetuates negative stereotypes of Native American people, and insults many centuries of traditions and rituals.