“Disparaging Trademarks and Free Speech”

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The rules have led the agency to reject applications for the name of a rooster-shaped lollipop for having a “vulgar meaning” and “Stop the Islamisation of America” by activist Pamela Geller because it may disparage religious practitioners.

Anyone who says anything perceived to be “offensive” to protected classes is fair game now.

Washington Redskins, Disparaging Trademarks and Free Speech,” By Sophia Pearson | Insurance Journal, July 9, 2015 (thanks to Christian):

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The National Football League’s Washington Redskins lost some protection for its controversial name after a federal judge ruled it may be disparaging to Native Americans.

The decision doesn’t bar the team’s commercial use of the trademarked name, but it opens the door to copycats seeking to profit from it. The Redskins won’t be able to add the name to a federal registry, which provides additional protection from such infringement.

Redskins President Bruce Allen said the team will appeal the ruling.

“We are convinced that we will win because the facts and the law are on the side of our franchise that has proudly used the name Washington Redskins for more than 80 years,” Allen said in a statement.

The ruling in the two decade-long dispute leaves intact a 2014 decision by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to cancel six trademarks. The Redskins sued, arguing its free speech rights were infringed.

U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee disagreed, saying trademark registration is “government speech and is therefore exempt from First Amendment scrutiny.”

While the Redskins’ appeal will go the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, another federal appeals court is set to hear arguments in a separate case on the central issue of whether free speech trumps a legislative ban on disparaging trademarks.

The Slants

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said all its active judges in October will consider the case of The Slants, an Asian-American rock band that’s been trying to trademark its moniker, which is also a derogatory term sometimes used for Asian people.

The cases involving the Slants and the Redskins have sparked a debate within the field of trademark law. Trademark registration is designed to give added legal protection to unique names that consumers will recognize and prevent copycats. The Patent Office is required to weed out names that it deems offensive to ethnic or religious groups or the general public.

The rules have led the agency to reject applications for the name of a rooster-shaped lollipop for having a “vulgar meaning” and “Stop the Islamisation of America” by activist Pamela Geller because it may disparage religious practitioners.

Lee agreed in his ruling that trademarks that may disparage different groups can be canceled. The determination is made considering the dictionary definitions of the mark in dispute, statements of individuals or group leaders and literary or media references, he said.

Offensive Term

“The record evidence shows that the term ‘redskin’ in the context of Native Americans and during the relevant time period, was offensive,” Lee wrote.

The football team, Lee said, has “always associated itself with Native American imagery” including the use of a Native American profile on its helmets.

The team, founded in 1932 as the Boston Braves, was renamed in 1933 as the Boston Redskins in honor of its head coach, an American Indian. The team moved to Washington in 1937. In 2013, the Redskins ranked 10th in merchandise sales of the National Football League’s 32 teams. Merchandise revenue is shared equally among NFL squads.

Redskins’ lawyer Robert Raskopf said the team’s ability to use its famous name and enforce its trademark rights will “remain unaffected as has been consistently been the case throughout the 23-year history of this litigation.”

“The Redskins will continue to use their longstanding marks as symbols of pride, achievement, and success both on the field and off,” Raskopf said.

The case is Pro-Football Inc. v. Blackhorse, 14-cv-01043, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria).

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Ban Liberals
Ban Liberals
8 years ago

We’re becoming more and more like England and less and less free, every day!

TheSnapDude
TheSnapDude
8 years ago

GELLER 2016!

vincent bruce
vincent bruce
8 years ago

Soon the English language will be banned

SCREW SOCIALISM
SCREW SOCIALISM
8 years ago

Ah!

A rooster is also known as a cock.
A lollipop is also known as a sucker.

MerchantseamenD
Merchantseamen
8 years ago

Thanks I am sort of dense about things like that. LMAO tho.

Drew the Infidel
Drew the Infidel
8 years ago

As is all too common these days Judge Lee tries to revise history but actually shows his ignorance of it. He says the term Redskin was offensive “during the relevant time period”. The term has been used so long and in a variety of cultural contexts to the point that it has passed from offensive to being an integral part of frontier lore. It is a safe bet he does not even know which end of a horse gets up first. (For the uninitiated, it is front for horses, rear for cattle.)

Jerry Del Vecchio
Jerry Del Vecchio
8 years ago

Freedom of Speech and of the Press: The First Amendment allows citizens to express and to be exposed to a wide range of opinions and views. It was intended to ensure a free exchange of ideas even if the ideas are unpopular.
That’s why Nazis can march in Skokie, illegals can burn the US Flag, and the Westboro Church can disparage dead GIs at their funerals.
The First Amendment protecting Freedom of Speech is there to protect even the most vile of speech. It wouldn’t be necessary if it only protected “nice” speech or “acceptable” speech.

Roger
Roger
8 years ago

Our protectors; “The Great Generation” is not here any longer. When I go to the VA clinic I try to talk with the WWII and Korean Vets, fascinating stories. The Planet Earth they grew up on is long gone. They passed the hard won freedoms to future generations; the country was redefined by the liberals and given away in the name of Political Correctness.
The History Books will be read by future generations and the pages will be stained from their tears.
The early fifties was the End of the Beginning and the Beginning of the End.
God forgive us.

Semper Fidelis

durabo
durabo
8 years ago

I agree: get rid of that offensive word, “Washington!”

No Quarter
No Quarter
8 years ago

I think the redskins logo shows Native Americans as strong and powerful, it is very cool. I am sure the name “patriots” will offend someone somewhere so that will have to go too. Lets just use a letter and number system to identify everything so no one is offended and then the world will be just as boring as hell. Why cant they call themselves “the slants”? What about “NWA” ? No problem there of course. It is all a bunch of PC crap. Say what ever you want and deal with the consequences like a big person. Oh yeah what about the band Edgar Winter and “White Trash”, ooooh, oh yeah that should be ok because whites are not really part of the offended classes.

honeybee
honeybee
8 years ago

Being of Scandinavian descent I object to the MN Vikings. Especially the humiliating “helmets” with horns and the objectifying ” blond braids”.

cowboy_fan
cowboy_fan
8 years ago

How ’bout the Cowboys? The name offends many people.

Jimbo
Jimbo
8 years ago

How about ‘Obama’. I find that offensive. Can it be banned too?

got243kids
got243kids
8 years ago

“If you are not offending someone everyday you are not exercising your 1st amendment right.” – KrisAnne Hall

Freedom of Religion.
Freedom of speech.
Freedom of the press.
Freedom to assemble.
Freedom to redress your government. (The right to complain.)

solange
solange
8 years ago

I really don’t see how a noble looking profile is a “disparagement,” some others, sure, like the state seal of a pioneer strangling a Native American, but surely not this. We are now in “new speak” territory, Mr. Orwell.

Fritz Kohlhaas
Fritz Kohlhaas
8 years ago

PC and socialism are EVIL!

Mohammad Izzaterd
Mohammad Izzaterd
8 years ago

When this came up with SIOA, I was surprised. I never knew that the trademark office could make arbitrary decisions about what is and is not ‘offensive.’ As always, I hope the govt. loses as they continue to suppress freedom of speech.

carlos
carlos
8 years ago

BE SURE TO SIGN THE CRACKER BARREL PETITION! GOT TO GET THAT INSULTING NAME CHANGED! OVER 10,000 SIGNATURES ALREADY! PASS IT ON!

MerchantseamenD
Merchantseamen
8 years ago

How about the “rainbow” flag being offensive? Since the time of Noah and the great flood. The rainbow is a promise from God that he would never destroy the earth by flood again. So you have hundred million Christians AND Jews that are “offended by the rainbow flag. So lets make sure there is no trademark applied to that flag. Oh snap…. we don’t count anymore….

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