U.S. Patent and Trademark office cancels protection of Washington team name

[oochymp 2,393]

The best part about all this is that the Trademark was removed by the FEDERAL Government. Not the state. All this does is eliminate the Washington Redskins ability to leap frog the court process when they want to issue a cease and desist. Now instead of being able to immediate cease all operations using their trademark and logos, they'll have to actually sue those using them and take them to court. Which by the way, they will win every single time because the Washington Redskins brand is an extremely popular, well established, and it brings in a shit ton of money every year. So really, all this does is create a small road block.

you do realize that nearly all trademark law in the US is federal, right? State trademark law generally only applies to trademarks that are only used in a single State (local businesses) and it's highly unlikely that the Redskins registered a trademark in any State

 

that said, the Redskins will still be able to enforce the trademark while the case goes through the appeal, which will take a while

[Guest Phailadelphia]

 

It's amazing that after TGP has been around so many years, we still get people making posts like this. If the reply is "THAT stupid," if it's such an idiotic post, then make the retort and end the argument. I've seen plenty of discussions on this site that seemed prime for quality debate, and whenever someone pulls the "That's such a stupid reply I don't even know what to say" card, the discussion somehow seems to go on without conclusion.

 

Make what retort? His reply clearly doesn't even try to recognize the essence or legitimacy of my argument, and he goes a step further in mounting his own argument based on a logical fallacy. Outside of pointing out the stupidity of the post, there is no retort to be made on the actual subject.

 

Hell, it's not even an argument against changing the Redskins name. It's irrelevant.

They're likely all Liberals, too.

 

Does that make them any less Native American?

Edited June 20, 2014 by Phailadelphia

[DonovanMcnabb for H.O.F 2,241]

I'm not sure why you guys believe there will be a name change. It's not going to happen. The Redskins will take this to court and win their appeal, again. They've done it twice before I believe, and it will happen again.

 

Polls on Native American reservations have actually turned something like 70-80% of polled individuals stating that the Redskins name isn't official. Even more so, a wide scoped poll of Native Americans in 2004 showed over 90% of them don't feel it's degrading or racist in ANY way. Why? Because nearly every Washington Redskin fan on the face of the planet knows that the Washington Redskins name was given to the team by a Native American, as a badge of honor to represent their kind in the sport.

 

The ones actually blowing the hot air out of their heads at this logo and team name "issue" is a tiny, radical group of Native Americans that are just trying to gain attention to gain relevance by making demands.

 

This entire thing is just silly. It's all just a bunch of political bullcrap that's being run up town by some frown faced democrats who are looking to get out ahead.

 

 

 

The best part about all this is that the Trademark was removed by the FEDERAL Government. Not the state. All this does is eliminate the Washington Redskins ability to leap frog the court process when they want to issue a cease and desist. Now instead of being able to immediate cease all operations using their trademark and logos, they'll have to actually sue those using them and take them to court. Which by the way, they will win every single time because the Washington Redskins brand is an extremely popular, well established, and it brings in a shit ton of money every year. So really, all this does is create a small road block.

 

By poll taken in 2004, you aren't referring to that terribly flawed (and outdated) Annanberg Survey, are you?

Edited June 20, 2014 by DonovanMcnabb for H.O.F

[.AirMcNair. 1,232]

 

I expected a stupid response, but not one THIS stupid.

 

Coming from the guy who thinks an organization should change something because it offends his family.

 

I bring up the fact that they were named the Redskins out of honoring someone, the state of Oklahoma meaning the exact same thing because an Indian Chief suggested it(and no one crying over it), and there's been far more Indians who are against changing it/not offended by the name to the very, very few who do want it changed and all you give me is "boo fuckin hoo, it offends my family :( :( "

Edited June 20, 2014 by .AirMcNair.

[BJORN 679]

 

Who cares what the fans think?

Everyone in the organization,,,,,,,

[DonovanMcnabb for H.O.F 2,241]

Red People is a direct translation from a phrase used by an Indian group them self.

 

Redskin(s) is a slang- a label slapped unto Native Americans by non Native Americans that some have embraced, and others have tried for the longest to get rid of.

 

Really don't know why the former is being bought up in this thread at all. Different phrases, different connotations, different contexts, different history.

[Guest Phailadelphia]

 

Coming from the guy who thinks an organization should change something because it offends his family.

 

I bring up the fact that they were named the Redskins out of honoring someone, the state of Oklahoma meaning the exact same thing because an Indian Chief suggested it(and no one crying over it), and there's been far more Indians who are against changing it/not offended by the name to the very, very few who do want it changed and all you give me is "boo fuckin hoo, it offends my family :( :( "

 

This has nothing to do with my family. My mother's side of the family is of Native American descent and still identify as such. They are offended by the name "redskin." The point is that they are Native American and are offended by the word. Not that they are my family and thus we should stop using that word.

 

I see now it might be a little much to expect your pea brain to be capable of an intelligent, thoughtful discussion on this topic. I would say you're misrepresenting my argument to make your own look better, but I'm not even sure you're smart enough or witty enough to pull that off.

 

Edit: And as if making this a political debate wasn't stupid enough, it's funny that people trying to pin this effort on "white liberals" speaking on behalf of Native Americans are literally doing the exact same thing by speaking out against the change. Derp.

Edited June 20, 2014 by Phailadelphia

[Thanatos 2,847]

Rofl @ people saying redskin is a badge of honor. It's the word nigger for native Americans. Fact. I am the farthest thing from a liberal and I am fully with Phail on this one.

 

If a black guy gave a team the name the Washington Blackskins and said it was to honor the African-American race, would we really give a shit? (This is not even going into the fact that that story is pure propaganda.)

[FartWaffles 1,857]

Meanwhile Americans (including Natives) throw these around without any hesitation.

 

 

Trail of Tears

[Glanvilles Grits 142]

you do realize that nearly all trademark law in the US is federal, right? State trademark law generally only applies to trademarks that are only used in a single State (local businesses) and it's highly unlikely that the Redskins registered a trademark in any State

 

that said, the Redskins will still be able to enforce the trademark while the case goes through the appeal, which will take a while

 

I do. You also have to realize though that you do not have to have a trademark in place to declare wrongful use and infringement by an outside company.

 

Let's say that I am making money off of homemade blankets. I'm going to call them, COVERMEUPS. If I have established that brand name over several years and I've made "X" dollar amounts off of it over those years, but I have NOT trademarked, I can still declare a cease operation on the company that decides to use my "COVERMEUPS" brand name. It takes way longer and is an annoying process, it also doesn't allow any profit to be garnished from the company using my name, but it does force them to stop and begin using a new brand name.

[oochymp 2,393]

 

I do. You also have to realize though that you do not have to have a trademark in place to declare wrongful use and infringement by an outside company.

 

Let's say that I am making money off of homemade blankets. I'm going to call them, COVERMEUPS. If I have established that brand name over several years and I've made "X" dollar amounts off of it over those years, but I have NOT trademarked, I can still declare a cease operation on the company that decides to use my "COVERMEUPS" brand name. It takes way longer and is an annoying process, it also doesn't allow any profit to be garnished from the company using my name, but it does force them to stop and begin using a new brand name.

true, but it does make for a much more difficult case, that said it's really irrelevant since they'll be able to drag out the appeal for a few years and keep the trademark protection exactly the same

[Glanvilles Grits 142]

true, but it does make for a much more difficult case, that said it's really irrelevant since they'll be able to drag out the appeal for a few years and keep the trademark protection exactly the same

 

More difficult case for most, but not for a brand like the Washington Redskins lol

 

Pretty much,. Once they actually reach the court process in appeals, they'll win it. As I said before, it's all just a bunch of political mumbo jumbo right now. No way is this going to stick.

[GA_Eagle 595]

Meanwhile Americans (including Natives) throw these around without any hesitation.

 

 

Trail of Tears

 

You know, Fart, there are plenty of stories I've heard of people refusing to use or take 20 dollar bills. It might be more prevalent where I am, due to the Cherokee influence in the area, but I don't know.

[FartWaffles 1,857]

You know, Fart, there are plenty of stories I've heard of people refusing to use or take 20 dollar bills. It might be more prevalent where I am, due to the Cherokee influence in the area, but I don't know.

Well it's good to hear that there are some people refusing the $20 bill. People get so caught up in a rage over a sports franchise name, when our very own currency glorifies the biggest murderer of native Americans. It's sad, really...

[Glanvilles Grits 142]

I think they should put George W Bush on the $20 bill. Man, that would be freaking awesome hahah

[ATL_Predator+ 1,196]

 

This thread has valid arguments on both sides...but it also has its fair share of lol on each side.

 

Personally, I don't think the name Redskin is a proper name to call any team...there are plenty of other tribes... like the Seminoles, which would be perfectly ok to name a team.

 

The entire Washington organization could've easily changed the name years ago, but honestly no matter what they do they are going to piss people off.

 

You can still have a native American name for a team without it being offensive. Just look at the Blackhawks, Seminoles, Chiefs.

 

I see both sides to this argument, but if a name is causing this big of an issue, it might be wise to rephrase it.

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

I don't want to undermine the travesty that was the Indian Removal Act, the Trail of Tears, etc etc... but Andrew Jackson was awesome. He paid off our entire debt, hated the electoral college, and fought to dismantle the national bank. If only we could have another Andrew Jackson in office -- minus the whole genocide and cultural cleansing stuff.

[Thanatos 2,847]

Yeah guys, its just white people that want the name changed:

 

[RazorStar 4,025]

Would killing all the rich people be genocidal? Because I'd be down for that.

[Piggly Wiggly 960]

Yeah guys, its just white people that want the name changed:

 

Images of different types of Natives being shown while some guy is reading off a cue doesn't scream to me ''EHMERGERD LOOK AT HOW MANY NATIVES ARE RAGING FOR A NAMECHANGE FOR THE REDSKINS!!!11''

 

Nice fucking try, though.

 

There are some Natives that want the name changed, but let's be fair here, it's driven mostly by white Liberals.

[Omerta+ 1,206]

Yeah guys, its just white people that want the name changed:

 

 

That video is actually false. They do call themselves redskins and use the mascot for it. /thread

 

They are imo not so much upset by the fact that the name exists or the term. Rather that they are not getting what they deem to be a piece of the pie, for which they should not get anyway. You want to weed out racism and segregation, don't make concessions when they themselves have no problem with it if they are the marketers and the one making profits off of it.

[BwareDWare94 723]

I honestly don't understand how some people aren't putting two and two together, in this thread. The name is a racial slur. It's offensive. The only thing in pro sports that might be more offensive is the caricature that is the Cleveland Indians mascot.

 

You've all got two options: See reason and stand against it now, or be part of history as the large contingent of white Americans who very clearly didn't understand the power of words in reference to other races.

 

The name's gotta go.

Edited June 23, 2014 by BwareDWare94

[Maverick 791]

Rofl @ people saying redskin is a badge of honor. It's the word nigger for native Americans. Fact. I am the farthest thing from a liberal and I am fully with Phail on this one.

 

If a black guy gave a team the name the Washington Blackskins and said it was to honor the African-American race, would we really give a shit? (This is not even going into the fact that that story is pure propaganda.)

Back when you first joined, yeah. Now? I'm not sure that's still correct of you to say that. IIRC, there's been a few issues I've seen you respond to that your opinion definitely identified more with a liberal than a conservative.

[Guest Phailadelphia]

Racism is now a conservative vs liberal thing? Are we reverting back to 1950s America?

[Omerta+ 1,206]

Honestly if this has to do with racism then somebody needs to stop the Navajo from using the term and make things equal across the board. Have you seen a single Native American call out the Navajo for using the term Redskin and an IDENTICAL mascot ? No, you have not because they are not worried about its use as a pejorative apparently, but there is profit being made off of "their" likeness and heritage. This is bullshit imo. If it offends people then I am sorry, but I really dont know what to say to that.

 

The only color people ACTUALLY give a shit about in this scenario in my opinion is green.

Edited June 23, 2014 by Ngata_Chance