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U.S. Patent Office Cancels Trademark For Redskins Football Team

ttabvue.uspto.gov

21–30 of 89 posts

Re: U.S. Patent Office Cancels Trademark For Redskins Football Team

#21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, Apache is the name of a group of tribes and they might decide they want the website back. And I take a bit of an offense at you telling me or my Dad what you think Redskin means versus what he grew up with and myself growing up on a reservation with the slang "skins" being used often and not in anyway like your dictionary definition probably written by someone who had never set foot on a reservation.

For some reason, liberals like to be offended on behalf of other groups.

[deleted]

Re: U.S. Patent Office Cancels Trademark For Redskins Football Team

#22
post #3

According to Deadspin: The cancellation of the Redskins' trademarks will not have an immediate impact. They will appeal, and be allowed to continue exclusively using the trademark in the meantime. But should the cancellation stand up, there will be nothing on the federal level to stop random schmoes from selling Redskins gear, with logos and all. One could imagine this having the perverse result of the team becoming…

They would potentially become more popular, but they wouldn't get the revenue from that popularity, because the knockoff vendors wouldn't pay for the rights to the Redskins IP. Since merchandise is a major revenue stream for sports teams, it seems unlikely, were it to come to that, that the team would tolerate it for too long; they wouldn't really have any choice but to change their name to something that could be trademarked to recover their merchandise revenue.

Re: U.S. Patent Office Cancels Trademark For Redskins Football Team

#23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure 'apache' is quite the same as 'redskins'.

The Apache group of tribes probably have a much stronger case with an WPO or trademark claim now to get the name and website (apache.org).

Even if the Apache Software Foundation were to lose the trademark on the right to exclusively use that word in the software industry, that does not mean they would necessarily need to give up the domain.

And bear in mind that trademark law does not aim to be a unique name registry. The trademark is issued in the context of the business. For example, the USPTO has trademarks registered for Apache helicopters and Apache skateboards, among others.

Re: U.S. Patent Office Cancels Trademark For Redskins Football Team

#24
post #13

For anyone not understanding what this is about, here's the most important part of the ruling: > > ...we decide, based on the evidence properly before us, that > these registrations must be cancelled 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). > Seems like this ruling may lead to m…

Probably not. The test for disparagement has two elements: 1) whether the mark singles out an identifiable group; and 2) whether a substantial composite of the group would find the mark disparaging. That is to say, the mark doesn't just have to be offensive to someone somewhere, but rather it has to be perceived as disparaging by a substantial portion of the particular group singled out by the mark.

A good example of this is "Dykes on Bikes," a trademark that was allowed after evidence showing that lesbians did not find the term disparaging: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dykes_on_Bikes#Legal_battle_to_... ("The court found that men had no grounds to be offended by the term. McDermott stated his opposition against any group associated with the annual Dyke March, which he dubbed 'the Annual Illegal San Francisco Dyke Hate Riot' in which he and all men are subject to criminal attacks and civil right violations.")

In this particular case, although many native americans do not mind the term, a sizable portion find it to be akin to the n-word for african americans. Indeed, in the early 1990's a native american group brought cancellation proceedings for the trademark: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Redskins_name_contro.... The USPTO canceled the registration then, but the decision was overturned on appeal for insufficient evidence of disparagement.

Re: U.S. Patent Office Cancels Trademark For Redskins Football Team

#27
post #2

An interesting visualization showing the land seized from Native Americans in the United States. http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2014/06/17/interactive_...

A more humorous look here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZr7ADxLff8#t=0m38s

And here: http://twain.lib.virginia.edu/projects/rissetto/redman.html

Re: U.S. Patent Office Cancels Trademark For Redskins Football Team

#28
there are many native americans who support the use of this name. it honors them. it's perhaps the most "american" team in pro-football, next to their rivals, the cowboys. the name may genuinely offend some of native american origins. i doubt these folks happen to be fans of the team. not sure if that matters, just sayin.

edit: want to add i am totally in favor of renaming the team. it would be cool to keep the spirit..perhaps the "native americans"?

Re: U.S. Patent Office Cancels Trademark For Redskins Football Team

#29
post #13

For anyone not understanding what this is about, here's the most important part of the ruling: > > ...we decide, based on the evidence properly before us, that > these registrations must be cancelled 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). > Seems like this ruling may lead to m…

I wonder if these name controversies will lead to team Insignia issues.

The team's name was based on a derogatory term, but their logo depicted a native american man that was drawn semi realistic.

The Cleveland Indians literally use a cartoon caricature a Native American with red skin and a questionable facial expression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cleveland_Indians_logo.svg

Re: U.S. Patent Office Cancels Trademark For Redskins Football Team

#30
post #24
post #13

For anyone not understanding what this is about, here's the most important part of the ruling: > > ...we decide, based on the evidence properly before us, that > these registrations must be cancelled 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). > Seems like this ruling may lead to m…

Probably not. The test for disparagement has two elements: 1) whether the mark singles out an identifiable group; and 2) whether a substantial composite of the group would find the mark disparaging. That is to say, the mark doesn't just have to be offensive to someone somewhere, but rather it has to be perceived as disparaging by a substantial portion of the particular group singled out by the mark. A good example of…

Important to note, the ruling is based on whether or not the trademark was considered disparaging at the time of registration... not currently.
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