It’s likely the U.S. Supreme Court will ultimately have to weigh in before every snotty pre-adolescent entrepreneur can try to exploit the unregistered Redskins trademark.
In his ruling [PDF], the U.S. District Court judge denied the team’s claim that canceling the Redskins trademarks would take away the organization’s First Amendment right to free expression, as the team can continue to use the Redskins name without any penalty; it just can’t trademark it.
Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act prohibits registering trademarks if they “may disparage or falsely suggest a connection with persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt, or disrepute,” but it does not prevent anyone from using that mark.
“Cancelling the registration of a mark under Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act does restrict the public debate on public issues as the mark owner is still able to use the mark in commerce,” writes the judge.
The Redskins, whose ownership has remained resolute in retaining the name, can and will undoubtedly appeal today’s ruling, meaning the free-for-all on unlicensed Redskins merchandise will have to wait. It’s likely that this case will ultimately end up before the U.S. Supreme Court, though that could be a year or more from now.
When the USPTO first canceled the trademark in 2014, the folks at South Park took the opportunity to poke fun at the team (while also promoting its new season) with this ad that ran in the D.C. area:
The Washington Post was first to report on today’s ruling.
by Chris Morran via Consumerist