The judge ruled the name Redskins may disparage Native Americans.
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The Washington Redskins are appealing a federal judge’s cancelation of the team’s controversial and allegedly offensive trademark with a odd argument that equates its name with a few weird-ass porn and clothing companies, among others.
It continued: “By way of example only, the following marks are registered today: Take Yo Panties Off clothing; risky Negro shirts; SlutSeeker dating services; Dago Swagg clothing; Dumb Blonde beer; Twatty Girl cartoons; Baked By A Negro bakery goods; Big Titty Blend coffee; Retardipedia website; Midget-Man condoms and inflatable sex dolls; and Jizz underwear”. It cited numerous porn and clothing companies, among others, that-despite potentially offensive language in their title-have not lost their trademark registration, according to Ian Shapira of the Washington Post.
As Washington’s lawyers argue in their opening brief for a court of appeals hearing on the status of the “Redskins” trademark, these names are now protected by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. “The District Court nonetheless declared the PTO’s action exempt from any First Amendment scrutiny because registered trademarks are all “government speech” and registration is a government subsidy ‘program”.
Most notably, Lee said stripping the team of its federal trademark registrations doesn’t violate its First Amendment rights.
“A ban on “disparaging” trademarks unconstitutionally burdens speech based on content and viewpoint”, the brief says, “just as would a ban on registering copyrights for “disparaging” books”. “But if this Court holds that it does, how will the government explain registrations like “Marijuana for Sale… Word limits prevent us from listing more”. “The [Patent and Trademark Office] has registered hundreds if not thousands of marks that the Team believes are racist, or misogynistic, vulgar, or otherwise offensive”, the brief says. The team cites Aunt Jemima products, Uncle Ben’s rice and Red Man tobacco as racially tinged trademarks that have gone unchallenged.
“Even if the Patent and Trademark Office made a mistake with respect to marks” on the team’s list, Hogan says, “it doesn’t mean that it was a mistake for the court and the Patent and Trademark Office to recognize the Redskins’ mark as disparaging when the (petitioners) brought it to the attention of the PTO and the court”.
The team is now on its third attempt in the past 18 months to save its trademark registrations. That decision followed a Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruling that the name doesn’t qualify for trademark status because it offends many Indians.
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The appeal was filed Friday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Virginia.
