The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has rejected another product with the term "Redskin" in its name, the latest sign that it might rule against the Washington NFL franchise in an ongoing trademark case.
The agency ruled this week that the trademark name "Washington Redskin Potatoes" would be considered disparaging. The government agency's latest ruling first concluded that the product doesn't contain redskin potatoes. It then went further, saying that because the product doesn't contain redskin potatoes, it would therefore would be associated with the NFL football team. PTO concluded that current evidence reflects that "a substantial composite of Native American Indians find the current use of "Redskins" in conjunction with football disparaging."
The agency issued a similar ruling in January, rejecting the trademark "Redskins Hog Rinds."
The agency is overdue for a decision on whether to revoke the trademark protection for the name of Daniel Snyder's NFL team, part of a long-running challenge from a group of Native Americans. A hearing on that matter was held over 12 months ago and it is widely believed to be delayed in anticipation of the controversy expected from a ruling that would go against the team.
No comments:
Post a Comment