http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/u-s--patent-and-trademark-office-cancels-washington-redskins--trademarks-144712305.html

Most of the major blows to the supporters of the Washington Redskins' name have been just words. Now, there's a significant action against the nickname.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has canceled the Redskins' trademarks. The petitioners, consisting of five Native Americans, sought to cancel the trademarks based on a section of the Trademark Act that "prohibits registration of marks that may disparage persons or bring them into contempt or disrepute."

Six trademarks for the team were canceled in a divided ruling by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. The team has said it plans to appeal the decision.

The USPTO said in its ruling that "these registrations must be canceled because they were disparaging to Native Americans at the respective times they were registered, in violation of Section 2(a) of the Trademark Act of 1946, 15 U.S.C. § 1052(a)."

The trademarks that were canceled were granted between 1967 and 1990. Since 1992, the USPTO has denied to register trademarks that included Redskins at least 12 times, including seven applications from the Washington football team and one from NFL Properties (for "Boston Redskins"), according to USA Today. Disparagement grounds were cited for those denials.

"We are confident we will prevail once again, and that the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s divided ruling will be overturned on appeal. This case is no different than an earlier case, where the Board canceled the Redskins’ trademark registrations, and where a federal district court disagreed and reversed the Board. As today’s dissenting opinion correctly states, 'the same evidence previously found insufficient to support cancellation' here 'remains insufficient' and does not support cancellation.

"This ruling — which of course we will appeal — simply addresses the team’s federal trademark registrations, and the team will continue to own and be able to protect its marks without the registrations. The registrations will remain effective while the case is on appeal.

"When the case first arose more than 20 years ago, a federal judge in the District of Columbia ruled on appeal in favor of the Washington Redskins and their trademark registrations. ..."

Redskins owner Daniel Snyder has defended the name and has shown no signs that he'd voluntarily consider changing it. As Raskopf said in the statement, the team will retain its federal trademark rights during an appeal, which could take a long time. The team can also continue to use the name and the logo even if the USPTO's ruling stands.

The ruling doesn't mean the team would have to change the name. The issue would be that anyone could try to sell Redskins merchandise because it isn't trademarked, though USA Today said the team could fight for its rights to the logo and name, citing "common law and state statutes."

The ruling might not have an immediate impact on anything the Redskins do. But it seems like a pretty large setback to the supporters of the nickname as pressure continues to mount for the team to change it.

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If the appeal doesn't win, this is pretty much the end of the team's name. Too bad they fired Shanahan, or they could plausibly claim the name was in his honor...

I don't see the problem with this. It's a racist name, period. If Donald Sterling loses the Clippers because of his racism then the Redskins need to lose their name.

This is stupid. A nation of pussies... Wait, thats not politically correct. A nation of female genatalia with a fishy oder.

Ah fuck that. I'm definitely not a fan but if this sort of thing can be taken down by the patent office then why can't more important things that affect people get taken down? The patent system here is a joke :P

I really couldn't care less about football, but this is absurd. It doesn't matter if they have an overtly racist name, they should be able to call the team whatever they want.

If you don't like the name then don't watch the Redskins games, buy their merchandise and etc. Also, petition to have the name changed, but don't point a gun to their heads and force them to do this.

Censorship is such a slippery slope too, and this wording "prohibits registration of marks that may disparage persons or bring them into contempt or disrepute" is so vague that it could apply to anything.

Let's try it with my own state team...

I don't like the Green Bay "Packer's" name since it was named after the Indian Packing Company (obviously racist, it has the word 'Indian' right there!). Also, they packed canned meat which offends vegetarians. Change the name!

The meaning of packers has changed. It now refers to fudge packers which is a disparaging name for gays. Change the name! (even though it says in the article "at the time of the trademark." I'm just being facisious.)

The name was given in honor of Native Americans, and no one cared until the last two years.

The complaints have existed for decades. There was a court case on this in the early 90's

The Washington Red Skins? Maybe they should have a team called the American Fatties? Same thing!

As much I oppose racism, it's another thing to persecute/prosecute people over a stupid word. The way we've been attacking racist terminology (for the most part) has been ineffective.


Was it really justifiable to ruin Paula Deens career over a stupid racist remark she said 30yrs ago? (correct me if I'm wrong)

Why do people feel they need to single out Justin Bieber because he used the word "nigga" when a lot of other artists use it?

Same thing with the Redskins. If you wanna go a little bit further how come no one is crying about Disney's "what makes the red man red?" scene in Peter Pan.

The way you attack this is by educating not prosecuting. Plus honestly I don't see why it disparages the natives when we call people of African descent "black" or others like Indian, Mexican, etc "brown people."