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

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41–50 of 89 posts

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

#41

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.

haha! best comment I have read this morning. :)

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

#42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apache is not a derogatory name for an American Indian. '"Redskin" is a term for Native Americans. Its connotations are a subject of debate,[1] although the term is defined in current dictionaries of American English as "usually offensive",[2] "disparaging",[3][4] "insulting",[5] and "taboo." [6]' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redskin_(slang)

I learned over the weekend that "red skin" was used to describe the blood on their skin after they were maimed/killed. edit: http://www.npr.org/2014/06/12/321392824/the-ad-campaign-to-t...

Complete and utter bullshit. Look at the etymology of the word "Oklahoma," for instance. It was self-applied: http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/v014/v014p156.... .

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

#43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I see you've removed all agency from the 'other groups'. Kudos.

No, the pearl-clutchers have pretty much got that covered.

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

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

If they want to be offended maybe they should look at the crappy government health care (search: don't get sick after june), or the federal prosecutor who won't prosecute non-indians who steal on the reservation (even if the rez has video), look at the high unemployment rate after shutting down the defense contractor, or maybe take crimes against children with some seriousness. Being offended by names is way the heck…

The organized groups that have been involved in protest against disparaging use of Native American slurs or images by sports teams are often also (and often far more) concerned about other failures of government related to treatment of Native Americans (of course, government granted monopolies like registered trademarks are as much actions of government as prosecutorial decisions, so its inconsistent to label only the latter as a failure of government.)

I mean, one of the organized groups that started protesting and lobbying against these sports uses the earliest was AIM [1], who, whatever else one might say, certainly cannot fairly be described as not interested in addressing "failures of government" affecting Native Americans.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Indian_Movement

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

#45
post #34
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 Apach…

Speaking of apache helicopters, the .mil has the highest concentration of native american names I can think of of, mostly names for weapon systems. Those looking to "make a statement" can probably find the next lawsuit in that arena.

Based on what law, exactly?

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

#46
post #32
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_...

On the other hand, has any conquering nation ever set aside so much self managed land for the people it conquered?

Do you have an example of this in mind?

Thinking of colonizers...

South Africa had much more land for the conquered, even during apartheid.

Israel has set aside massive amounts of land to its previous inhabitants.

Canada certainly has much more land set aside, though I expect it's equally marginal.

More generally...

Japan-SK

Japan-Taiwan

UK-India

Overall it seems rare for conquerers to commit a genocide and set aside marginal lands for the previous inhabitants. Usually it makes more economic sense to take the existing population and use political violence to extract labor and resources out of them.

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

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see you've removed all agency from the 'other groups'. Kudos.

No, the pearl-clutchers have pretty much got that covered.

Interesting that you characterize basic human decency as an overreaction.

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

#48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they want to be offended maybe they should look at the crappy government health care (search: don't get sick after june), or the federal prosecutor who won't prosecute non-indians who steal on the reservation (even if the rez has video), look at the high unemployment rate after shutting down the defense contractor, or maybe take crimes against children with some seriousness. Being offended by names is way the heck…

The organized groups that have been involved in protest against disparaging use of Native American slurs or images by sports teams are often also (and often far more) concerned about other failures of government related to treatment of Native Americans (of course, government granted monopolies like registered trademarks are as much actions of government as prosecutorial decisions, so its inconsistent to label only th…

AIM isn't behind this and I'm not sure AIM is even a going concern these days after everything that the FBI did to them. It would be hard to actually live on a reservation and not know about AIM or its history.

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

#49
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…

Certainly if it is canceled, they'll be able to sell gear with the logo, but only that.

Other styles and imagery will continue to be trademarked, will it not? For instance, you won't be able to sell a jersey with someone's number on it.

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