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Conservatives should be disabused of any notion that the recent revocation of the Redskins’ trademark by the US Patent Office had anything at all to do with the disparagement of Native Americans, real or perceived. On the contrary, the exercise in political correctness is not about aggrieved Native Americans. It’s about the power to redistribute wealth and to eliminate private property. Essentially, the Left has declared that no person’s or company’s trademark (or patent) is safe. Get together a group of lawyers who are experts in victimization and who have access to some aggrieved group, find a trademark name --...

Last week the controversy over the NFL Washington Redskins’ name, deemed offensive by the professionally aggrieved, reached a new peak when the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board canceled six federal trademark registrations owned by the team.Nevada Senator Harry Reid, who had previously blustered impotently that he wouldn’t accept an invitation to attend a Redskins home game until the team changed its name (a threat which no doubt sent waves of panic through the Redskins organization), gloated that the ruling proved “the handwriting is on the wall.” “It’s only a matter of time,” he tweeted, “until [Redskins owner] Daniel Snyder is...

Law professor Jonathan Turley questions the U.S. Patent Office's decision to rescind trademark protection for the Washington Redskins. While the move pleased many activists and politicians, Turley asks in a Washington Post article Sunday, is such social activism on the part of a federal agency really a good idea? "As federal agencies have grown in size and scope, they have increasingly viewed their regulatory functions as powers to reward or punish citizens and groups," Turley writes. "There is an obvious problem when the sanctioning of free exercise of religion or speech becomes a matter of discretionary agency action." In Turley's...

The U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s cancelation of federal trademark registration for the name Washington “Redskins,” after ruling it disparages Native Americans, puts pressure on team owner Daniel Snyder and the National Football League (NFL) to change the name but falls far short of settling the issue. The split, 2-1, decision by unelected trademark board members shows the increasingly heavy hand that politics is playing in the activities of the private sector, since the ruling followed recent public calls for a name change from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. The team counters that the long-standing “Redskins” name...

Poll at bottom right of page.

Today the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled that the name Redskins is 'disparaging of Native Americans' and, therefore, should not be afforded trademark protection any longer. This seems like a free-speech appeal just waiting to happen but in the meantime we should take a look at all the major American sports (sorry, soccer/futbol is still not one of them) and pick a few other nicknames that should be banned or at least left unprotected with trademark rights because they could be offensive to some people in the country. Major League Baseball 1.Royals - this name could be offensive to...

The Chicago Blackhawks declined to comment about the Washington Redskins’ loss of trademark protection Wednesday, but an expert said there’s little reason to believe the hockey team’s name and Indian head logo could face similar jeopardy. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office found in a 2-to-1 decision that trademarks covering the Redskins’ name and associated symbols disparaged American Indians, and thus must be canceled under federal law. The team vowed to appeal, noting it had won a similar legal case a decade ago.

Poll: Should the Washington Redskins change their nickname? Results # of votes % of votes Yes 1219 51% No 1191 49% Total Votes 2410

Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder is not a particularly admirable man. He tends to treat the Redskins as if he’s playing fantasy football. They tend to lose more often than they win. He’s not exactly a fan favorite. But Snyder isn’t taking the U.S. Patent Office’s ruling against his team lying down. The team has released a statement saying the ruling “will have no effect at all on the team’s ownership of and right to use the Redskins’ name/logo”. They’re correct, but it does allow others to use the name as they wish…the just can’t trademark it either. Which, in...

Ex-Rep. Joe Walsh ‘kicked off the air’ over racist terms on radio Fri, 06/20/2014 - 3:37am Mitch Dudek According to posts on former U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh’s Twitter account Thursday night, the conservative radio talk-show host was kicked off the air on WIND-AM (560) for using racial slurs while trying to have a discussion about racial slurs. In a series of tweets posted about 7 p.m., Walsh says: “Just got kicked off the air until further notice. Tried to have honest discussion about racist terms and management censored my language.” And: “I’m trying to have an honest, adult conversations about...

Sticks And Stones: Whatever one's view about the name "Redskins," the public should worry about the government bowing to political pressure and stripping a trademark nearly 80 years after it was first used. Where will it end? [snip] Surely the Cleveland Indians' mascot has to go. Chief Wahoo is a goofy cartoon depiction of a Native American, whereas the Redskins logo shows a dignified and stoic warrior. And how about the "Fighting Irish"? Doesn't that feed into the disparaging image of drunken Irishmen? Or the "Buccaneers" and the "Raiders," which seem to be derogatory terms for pirates? How many "Vikings"...

<p>Currently, federal trademark law does not allow the registration of any names that bring individuals or groups into contempt or disrepute. The PTO cited this rule in their decision regarding the Redskins’ name.</p> <p>Here are twelve other trademarked names that apparently didn’t come up on anyone’s offense radar.</p>

Anyone deemed politically incorrect is now outside the protection of the law. Like most people, I haven’t been all that interested in the controversy over whether the name of the Washington Redskins is offensive. Personally, I’m more offended that Washington, DC, has become the kind of megalopolis that can support an NFL team. If I had my way, it would go back to being a humid, swampy backwater with impassable mud roads. Pierre L’Enfant has much to answer for. But I think everyone should be terrified by the new ruling by the US Patent Office cancelling the team’s trademark. The...

Why the Redskins Trademark Ruling Should Terrify You Article Subtitle: Anyone deemed politically incorrect is now outside the protection of the law. Like most people, I haven’t been all that interested in the controversy over whether the name of the Washington Redskins is offensive. Personally, I’m more offended that Washington, DC, has become the kind of megalopolis that can support an NFL team. If I had my way, it would go back to being a humid, swampy backwater with impassable mud roads. Pierre L’Enfant has much to answer for. But I think everyone should be terrified by the new ruling...

The Redskins got a flurry of bad news Wednesday when the U.S. Patent Office canceled the team's trademark registration, because the team name is “disparaging to Native Americans." Basically, it means that the team could lose its federally trademarked protections and could hasten the franchise to change the name, depending on how much pressure the rest of the league puts on Washington for a potential loss of revenue. While Miami University, now the RedHawks but formerly known as the Redskins, tried to offer some advice on Wednesday, the sports editor of the Seattle Times, Don Shelton, is taking a more...

The nation of Sweden is demanding that the Obama administration act to deny copyright status to the Minnesota Vikings, claiming the name demeans its citizens and all other Scandinavians. “We can no longer tolerate the use of this disgusting epithet by an American football team,” said Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Milkquist in a letter to President Obama “First of all, ‘football’ means ‘soccer,’ Milkquist wrote. “I realize that this is an unrelated matter, but it really pisses people off in Europe. You only use your foot occasionally in football, whereas in soccer the foot is the only thing you can...

It must be a Garden of Eden out there because the federal government has the time to go after the Redskins, known around Dallas as NFL enemy #1. According to a "trademark" decision, the US government is now in the business of determining whether or not a team mascot discriminates against a group. Who is next? Will the Obama administration soon decide that American Thinker discriminates against Americans who don't think? The decision is absurd and I hope that Mr Snyder, and fans all over, stand up against this nonsense. The decision also comes at a time when there are...

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled Wednesday that the Washington Redskins' name is ''disparaging of Native Americans'' and should be stripped of trademark protection - a decision that puts powerful new financial and political pressure on the NFL team to rename itself. By a vote of 2-1, the agency's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board sided with five Native Americans in a dispute that has been working its way through legal channels for more than two decades.

Oh, give me a home, where the buffalo roam Where the deer and the antelope play Where seldom is heard a disparaging word And the skies are now cloudy all day.Chorus: Home, home of the CHANGE® Where the deer and the antelope play Where seldom is heard a disparaging word And the skies are now cloudy all day.Forecast: Cloudy, with a chance of meatheadsToday’s reflection:What does it mean when the country that practically invented “free speech” now censors your trademarks for politically incorrect “disparaging” words? In what some see as the first step to forcing the Washington Redskins football team...

MSNBC is the network where ex-host Martin Bashir suggested that someone defecate and urinate on Sarah Palin. Yet, the suddenly sensitive Joy Reid on Wednesday warned viewers that she was about to feature someone saying the word "Redskins," what she deemed to be a "racial slur." [See video below. MP3 audio here.'] Hours after the U.S. Patent and Trademark office had cancelled the Washington Redskins trademark registration, Reid played a clip of Senator Harry Reid attacking the team. The host fretted, "And I just warn people, he does use the name of the team. So, I'm just going to warn...