Blackhorse Vs. Pro Football Inc.: Case Study
Brent Healey
COMM 400
21 June, 2014
UMUC
Blackhorse v. Pro Football Inc.
“Go Skins!” An 82 year old cheer never to be heard again on the gridiron
In Blackhorse v. Pro Football Inc., the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the US Patent and Trademark Office invalidated the trademark of the Washington Redskins. Filing in 2006, five plaintiffs, all Native Americans, have finally won a historic trademark cancellation case against one of the National Football League’s (NFL) oldest franchises, the Washington Redskins. The plaintiffs claimed that the football team’s name, “Redskins” was disparaging towards Native Americans and requested the name be changed. The owner, Dan Snyder vowed to never change the name, citing tradition and brand recognition, and the case has since picked up national interest as the case proceeded. Although the NFL hasn’t officially ordered the team to change the name, the …show more content…
They found that the term “redskins” was in fact disparaging to a number of Native Americans and that enough of the Native American population found the term offensive. This was done by examining the membership population of several Native American Tribes to determine the percentage of the group that felt disparaged. The judges based their decision off of linguistic experts’ opinions of the derivation of the word, the connotation, and modern day opinion of the word. They also reviewed several letters from individual tribes or from Native American activist groups.
The defense presented examples of Native American schools that used the term “redskins” as a mascot or a phrase related to its sports programs. They also sought to prove that the term is a sign of respect and not a derogatory word. In regards to the linguistics experts, the defense presented claims that the word had been taken out of the common language and therefore did not correlate to a negative
COMM 400
21 June, 2014
UMUC
Blackhorse v. Pro Football Inc.
“Go Skins!” An 82 year old cheer never to be heard again on the gridiron
In Blackhorse v. Pro Football Inc., the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the US Patent and Trademark Office invalidated the trademark of the Washington Redskins. Filing in 2006, five plaintiffs, all Native Americans, have finally won a historic trademark cancellation case against one of the National Football League’s (NFL) oldest franchises, the Washington Redskins. The plaintiffs claimed that the football team’s name, “Redskins” was disparaging towards Native Americans and requested the name be changed. The owner, Dan Snyder vowed to never change the name, citing tradition and brand recognition, and the case has since picked up national interest as the case proceeded. Although the NFL hasn’t officially ordered the team to change the name, the …show more content…
They found that the term “redskins” was in fact disparaging to a number of Native Americans and that enough of the Native American population found the term offensive. This was done by examining the membership population of several Native American Tribes to determine the percentage of the group that felt disparaged. The judges based their decision off of linguistic experts’ opinions of the derivation of the word, the connotation, and modern day opinion of the word. They also reviewed several letters from individual tribes or from Native American activist groups.
The defense presented examples of Native American schools that used the term “redskins” as a mascot or a phrase related to its sports programs. They also sought to prove that the term is a sign of respect and not a derogatory word. In regards to the linguistics experts, the defense presented claims that the word had been taken out of the common language and therefore did not correlate to a negative