Lawyers for Redskins Put Different Spin on Trademark Case

The Redskins filed a motion to overturn the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s decision to cancel the team’s trademark because it infringes on freedom of speech rights and “unfairly singles the team out.”

The lawyers for the team argued that the cancellation decision “unfairly singles out the Redskins for disfavored treatment based solely on the content of its protected speech, interfering with the ongoing public discourse over the Redskins’ name by choosing sides and cutting off the debate.  This the U.S. Constitution does not tolerate.”…

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US Gov’t Joins Fight Against “Redskins” Trademark

On Friday, January 9, the United States Department of Justice filed a notice of intervention with the Eastern District of Virginia to intervene in the lawsuit between Washington’s football team and the Native American group, who successfully petitioned to have the team’s trademarks revoked.

The lawsuit stems from a June ruling by the US Patent & Trademark Office that revoked six of the Washington football team’s trademarks as the term “Redskin” was determined to be disparaging to a substantial amount of Native Americans during the …

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Redskins Suit Against Native Americans over Trademarks Goes Forward

A federal judge in Virginia decided to hear the Redskins’ suit against a group of Native Americans over the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s decision to cancel the Redskins trademark registrations.

In a suit brought by a Native American before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) decided in June to cancel the Redskins six trademark registrations because the name was “disparaging to Native Americans.”  The team filed a federal lawsuit to overturn that decision.

Following the Redskins …

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FCC Asked to Block Renewal of TV Licenses for Use of Word “Redskins”

The broadcast licenses of two Los Angeles TV stations have been challenged for their use of the name “Redskins” on air.

Four Native Americans filed petitions with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) asking it to deny license renewals for Fox-owned KTTV and NBC-owned KNBC-TV.  Three petitions were filed against KTTV, a station which broadcasts Redskins football games, on October 31.  The KNBC petition was filed on November 3, just in time for the deadline on such petitions.  All four were filed with the assistance of …

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