In another blow to Washington’s professional football team, a federal judge has affirmed the cancelation of trademarks protecting the “Redskins” nickname. The decision affirms an earlier ruling of the U.S. Patent And Trademark Office, which voted to cancel the “Redskins” trademarks last year because it was “disparaging to Native Americans.”
Snyder and the team appealed, arguing, among other things, the cancelation was a violation of their First Amendment rights. In a 70-page ruling Judge Gerald Bruce Lee rejected the First Amendment argument. Canceling the trademark, Lee noted, does not prevent Washington’s team from using the name; it simply withholds the special benefits of the federal government trademark system. The government, Lee found, has the right to define the scope of the trademark system. As part of this finding, Lee also affirmed the Trademark Office’s finding that the name was disparaging through an extensive analysis of the evidence.
The Native American tribes challenging the trademarks celebrated the decision. “Judge Gerald Bruce Lee found that the evidence we presented — opposition to the team name by the National Congress of American Indians and other leading Native American groups and individuals, dictionary definitions, scholarly articles, and newspaper clips — demonstrated the disparaging nature of the team’s name. This decision is a victory for human dignity and for my courageous clients who have waited so long for this ruling,” Jesse Witten, an attorney for the tribes, said in a statement.
The ruling does not mark the end of the process, as the Washington team will certainly appeal the decision. The ruling does not take effect until Synder exhausts all of his appeals. Even if the team loses all of their appeals they could continue to use the name and seek trademark protection under state law. It’s uncertain how much protection against infringement the team could achieve with patchwork, state-level protection.