By Carten Cordell
The ongoing battle over the name of Washington, D.C.’s NFL franchise was again piqued Wednesday when the U.S. Patent Office cancelled the Washington Redskins’ trademark registration.
But after the ensuing media flurry over the announcement, Redskins attorney Bob Raskopf released a statement saying the U.S. Patent Office’s ruling would “no effect at all on the team’s ownership of and right to use the Redskins name and logo.”
Raskopf went on to cite previous trademark rulings in 1999 and 2003 where the Patent Office denied the Redskins trademark, but were overruled on appeal.
“We are confident we will prevail once again, and that the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s divided ruling will be overturned on appeal. This case is no different than an earlier case, where the Board cancelled the Redskins’ trademark registrations, and where a federal district court disagreed and reversed the Board,” the statement said.
Redskins owner Dan Snyder has faced increasing pressure from members of Congress, President Barack Obama and others to change the team’s name, which many have said is offensive to Native Americans.
