Judge orders cancellation of Redskins trademark

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Patent and Trademark Office to cancel registration of the Washington Redskins' trademark, ruling that the football team’s name may be disparaging to Native Americans.

The ruling by Judge Gerald Bruce Lee affirms an earlier finding by an administrative appeal board against the National Football League franchise.

In his 70-page ruling, Lee emphasized that the team is still free to use the name if it wishes — it would just lose some legal protections that go along with federal registration of a trademark.

The team had sued to overturn a ruling against it by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. The team argued that cancellation of its trademark infringed on its free-speech rights because it required the government to judge whether the name is offensive.

The Oneida tribe, based in New York, launched a campaign in 2013 to get the Redskins to change its name.

"It's a dictionary-defined offensive term," Ray Halbritter, a prominent leader of the Oneida Indian Nation, told Agence France-Presse. "Washington's team name is a painful epitaph that was used against my people, Indian people, when we were held at gunpoint and thrown off our lands."

Despite support for the name change from rights groups, some fans and even politicians, including President Barack Obama, team owner Daniel Snyder has resisted pressure.

Snyder told USA Today in May 2013: “We’ll never change the name. It’s that simple. NEVER — you can use caps.”

Wednesday’s decision, which the team can appeal, will not force the Redskins to take any action, but could allow other teams and merchandisers to use its name and logo.

To protect its brand, the Redskins may choose to assert control of its distinctive burgundy, gold and white color scheme, Barton Beebe, a professor of intellectual property law at New York University, told Al Jazeera.

“It could on that basis prevent the production and sale of a lot of unauthorized merchandise,” said Beebe.

Al Jazeera and wire services