Judge allows Washington Redskins to sue Native Americans
Date: November 26, 2014 05:24PM
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Washington can sue Native Americans over team name trademarks, judge rules
Wednesday - 11/26/2014, 6:08am ET
A federal judge ruled that Washington's NFL team can sue a group of American Indians for seeking to block trademark protection of its name.
Judge Gerald B. Lee of the U.S. District Court in Alexandria rejected Tuesday an attempt by a group of Native Americans to dismiss the team's lawsuit against them, The Washington Post reports. The Redskins filed suit in the summer after the activists won a major ruling by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in June.
Throwing out the complaint would deprive the team of the opportunity to review the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board's decision to cancel the trademark as offensive, Bloomberg reports.
The case dates back to 1992, when a group of American Indians first petitioned the trademark office to cancel the team's trademarks because of their disparaging nature. After the June ruling, the team sued. Owner Daniel Snyder says the name is not offensive but rather is meant to honor Native Americans.
Forbes estimates the team's brand is worth $145 million. Losing federal protection of the trademark would make it hard for the franchise to enforce the rights to its name and the ability of others to use it to make money — by creating and selling apparel, for example.