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Redskins trademark at risk after U.S. Patent and Trademark office rejects nickname as derogatory
http://m.nydailynews.com/sports/football/1.1569699
http://m.nydailynews.com/sports/football/1.1569699
Daniel Snyder may soon have no choice but to give up the Redskins nickname, with business, not backlash, as the cause.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is discussing revoking Washington's trademarked nickname, a move that would have negative financial repercussions for the club, with a decision expected soon.
The news came after the agency deemed the term "derogatory slang" in a Dec. 29 letter rejecting the trademark request for "Redskins Hog Rinds," writing "Registration is refused because the applied-for mark REDSKINS HOG RINDS consists of or includes matter which may disparage or bring into contempt or disrepute persons, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols."
The product is not affiliated with the football team.
Revoking Washington's trademark protection on the Redskins nickname would allow anyone to make and sell products using the name and logo without fear of legal action, cutting into the club's merchandising bottom line.
Carolyn Kaster/AP
Daniel Snyder has stood in the face of criticism of his football team’s nickname and vowed not to change the team’s logo or remove the Redskins nickname.
The Associated Press reports that the PTO initially held a hearing on the football team's nickname in March, following a lawsuit brought forth by a group led by Amanda Blackhorse, and members of the Oneida Indian Nation — vocal critics of Snyder's stance on the name — are eagerly anticipating its decision.
"This is a huge potential precedent-setter rooted in the painfully self-evident truth that the Change the Mascot campaign has been reiterating: The R-word is a dictionary defined slur designed to demean and dehumanize an entire group of people," Oneida representative Ray Halbritter told the AP. "The federal government was right to declare that taxpayers cannot and should not subsidize the promotion of that slur through lucrative patent protections."
While numerous media outlets have gotten behind the movement and vowed to no longer use the team's nickname in print or on broadcasts, Snyder has stood in defiance of calls for him to change the team's name.
"'Washington Redskins'" is more than a name we have called our football team for over eight decades," Snyder wrote in a letter to fans in October. "It is a symbol of everything we stand for: strength, courage, pride, and respect — the same values we know guide Native Americans and which are embedded throughout their rich history as the original Americans."
Snyder's letter was slammed by Oneida leaders as an attempt to re-write history.
