The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) cancelled the trademark registration for the Redskins on Wednesday morning. The Washington, DC football team has been accused of being offensive and outright racist for continuing to use the racial slur, but today action has been taken against it.
The name, which was registered in 1933, has been repeatedly argued as disparaging to Native Americans. The cancellation of this trademark comes after a 2006 case brought in by law firm Drinker Biddle & Reath which represented a group of Native Americans that felt the team’s name was offensive. The USPTO says it could not approve the name because it was in violation of federal trademark laws banning offensive language.
This is not the first trademark cancellation for the D.C. football team. The name was previously cancelled in 1999, because of the same accusations, but the decision was later repealed. At this time, the name has been cancelled, but the team has to decide if it wants to continue to use the name. The USPTO will likely urge the team to officially change it and change all of its affiliated merchandise.
[Image: Al Jazeera]