The entire Washington Redskins name controversy took another turn on Wednesday when the U.S. Patent Office cancelled their six trademarks, which would either force the Redskins to change their name or have absolutely no control over their brand.
U.S. Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) took to the Senate floor and indicated that the “writing was on the wall” after the Patent Office issued its ruling earlier in the day.
For their part, the Redskins aren’t going to take this ruling sitting down. They released a statement that indicates this controversy isn’t going to end any time soon (via Business Insider).
We’ve seen this story before. And just like last time, today’s ruling will have no effect at all on the team’s ownership of and right to use the Redskins name and logo.
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 cancelled the Redskins’ trademark registrations, and where a federal district court disagreed and reversed the Board.
This statement speaks to a 1999 case in which the Redskins were denied trademarks, only to see the case overturned on appeal. Washington also focused on the dissenting opinion in the most recent ruling.
It is astounding that the petitioners did not submit any evidence regarding the Native American population during the relevant time frame, nor did they introduce any evidence or argument as to what comprises a substantial composite of that population thereby leaving it to the majority to make petitioner’s case have some semblance of meaning.
If the ruling is upheld on appeal, Daniel Snyder and Co. would then likely be forced to change the Redskins’ name.
Photo: Business Insider