Norton Calls Ruling Canceling Washington Football Team’s Trademark Historic and Inevitable

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), a leader in the effort to cancel the Washington Football Team's trademark and to convince the team's owner and the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL) to voluntarily change the team's name, today celebrated the ruling by the United States Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) Trademark Trial and Appeal Board that the term "Redskins" is disparaging to Native Americans, thereby canceling federal registrations for the "Redskins" trademarks. This is the second time the board has issued such a ruling, though the first was overturned by the courts on procedural grounds.

"The handwriting was almost indelibly on the wall that this historic decision was close to inevitable if the USPTO followed its own precedents," said Norton. "The USPTO's first decision finding the name ‘disparaging' was not overturned on the merits but on a technicality, and on four separate occasions since then, the USPTO has turned down attempts to register the same name. As if that were not enough, a grassroots movement led by Native people themselves and organizations that represent them has spread with allies of every background and Members of the House and Senate. Team owner Daniel Snyder instead tried to turn the name on its head, but there was no way to put a positive cover on a name with racist origins. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's failure to exercise the needed leadership guaranteed that it would take the law to force a change. We in the District of Columbia are particularly relieved about the ruling, which upholds values of the people of the District of Columbia. Goodell still has an opportunity to exercise some leadership. He, the other NFL team owners and FedEx should urge Snyder not to appeal this ruling. It is time for the team and the NFL to put this issue to rest."

Last year, Norton and nine other members of Congress sent letters to Goodell, team owner Daniel Snyder, the 31 other NFL franchises, and Washington football team sponsor FedEx, urging a change in the team name. In addition, Congressman Eni Faleomavaega (D-AS) introduced a bill, which Norton and the others who signed the letter cosponsored, to cancel existing trademark registrations containing the term "Redskins," and deny registration for new trademarks using the term.

Published: June 18, 2014