The Justice Department has decided to intervene in a trademark protection lawsuit filed by the Washington Redskins.
The federal government has decided to jump into the battle over the use of the Washington Redskins name and logo.
The Justice Department announced Friday it would intervene in a complicated trademark protection lawsuit to defend the constitutionality of something called the Lanham Act, that bars trademarks that disparage or bring people into “contempt or disrepute.”
According to the Washington Post, acting assistant attorney general Joyce Branda said the statute needed to be defended.
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“The Department of Justice is dedicated to defending the constitutionality of the important statute ensuring that trademark issues involving disparaging and derogatory language are dealt with fairly,” Branda said. “I believe strongly in the rights of all Americans to celebrate and maintain their unique cultural heritage. Going forward, we will strive to maintain the ability of the United States Patent and Trademark Office to make its own judgment on these matters, based on clear authorities established by law.”
A group of Native Americans had gone to the USPTO to claim the Redskins trademark violated the Lanham Act. After that office’s appeal board ruled that the trademark was a violation of the law, the Redskins sued the Native American group, arguing the Lanham Act is “unconstitutionally vague” and that it infringes upon First Amendment free speech rights.
The crux of the team’s case is its argument that in order for the Lanham Act to have been violated, the trademarks had to have been disparaging at the time they were registered.
The team is arguing that there was not sufficient evidence to prove a substantial number of Native Americans were offended by the name when the trademarks were registered in 1967 and 1990.
Seriously? That’s the argument? “Sure, it’s offensive as all heck now, but it wasn’t when we got the trademark, so we’re good.”
I understand tradition. I get that the name has been around since 1933. I understand the history of how the name was created—by a cheap owner who didn’t want to change his logo when he moved away from one stadium to another in Boston in the 1930s.
So when George Preston Marshall moved the football team from Braves Field in Boston to Fenway Park, the name was changed from “Braves” to “Redskins.”
And more than 80 years later, Dan Snyder is willing to go to the mat with anyone and everyone over a marketing ploy, but one couched in a fabricated story about a Native American coach—who has since been found not to be a Native American at all, according to an article by Linda M. Waggoner.
The only people left who defend this name generally fall into two camps: 1) Longtime fans of the team and 2) White folks who claim to know a Native American who isn’t offended by the name.
I mean, even the old Atlanta Crackers of minor-league baseball fame eventually changed their name.
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