The ruling looms even larger because the team is running out of courts it can appeal the ruling to.
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“This is a huge victory”, Jesse Witten, one of the attorneys for the Native Americans, told the Post. “My clients are extremely happy”. Those who want to change the name are trying to pressure Washington to do so by securing for anyone and everyone the ability to profit from the sale of items carrying the name and logo.
The ruling by Judge Gerald Bruce Lee affirmed an earlier decision and will force the team to take its case to the Supreme Court where it is looking more like an appeal will be a “Hail Mary” plan before judges sensitive to popular opinion. The judge said the organization could keep its name.
The trademark cancellation does not go into effect immediately, and can be appealed through the courts.
The case is officially known as Pro-Football, Inc. v. Amanda Blackhorse, et al. Their suit also claimed that Blackhorse hadn’t proven to a reasonable extent that enough Native Americans were actually offended by the name. A group of Native American activists first challenged the trademark registration in 1992, and various administrative boards have ruled against the team before. Like the previous ruling, the Washington Redskins can appeal this ruling and it appears this matter is far from over. Critics say the “Redskins” name perpetuates negative stereotypes of Native American people, and insults many centuries of traditions and rituals.
The team’s president Bruce Allen said they’re moving on to their next legal hurdle. First, he said, because they “did not unreasonably delay” their petition given their ages and, second, “because of the public interest at stake”.
The ruling means that the team stands to lose millions of dollars in licensing revenue without trademark protection. But winning a lawsuit could be harder, without the legal protections that come with a federally-registered trademark.
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A spokesman for the team said that the current decision is being reviewed, and legal options are being considered.
