Trademark Ruling Could Set Precedent for Redskins Name

The U.S. Department of Justice, which argued the case for the trademark office, said it was reviewing the decision.

“The Redskins are pretty happy campers”, Coleman said after the ruling.

The TTAB’s “Redskins” ruling was upheld by a U.S. District Court in July 2015, but is headed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (Richmond) for appeal by the Redskins. The team has long said that the name is meant to honor Native Americans, not insult them, and that there is no proof that a substantial segment of that population finds the word Redskins offensive. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office doesn’t agree.

Here’s the comparison the majority uses: “The PTO’s processing of trademark registrations no more transforms private speech into government speech than when the government issues permits for street parades, copyright registration certificates, or, for that matter, grants medical, hunting, fishing, or drivers licenses, or records property titles, birth certificates, or articles of incorporation”.

For example, at the time when the Lanham Act was passed, there was no constitutional protection for commercial speech.

“The Slants case ups the ante and makes it very likely the Supreme Court will take the case now that there’s been a declaration by a federal appeals court of unconstitutionality”, he said.