Federal Judge Orders Cancellation of Washington Redskins’ Trademarks

A federal judge in Virginia has ordered the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to cancel six of the Washington Redskins’ registered trademarks because their depiction of an Indian brave is considered offensive to Native Americans.

“The evidence before the Court supports the legal conclusion that between 1967 [when the first Redskins’ trademark was registered] and 1990, the Redskins Marks consisted of matter that ‘may disparage’ a substantial composite of Native Americans,” U.S. District Judge Gerald Lee wrote in his July 8 ruling in Pro-Football Inc. v. Blackhorse.

In his 70-page decision, Lee rejected the Redskins’ argument that the trademark cancellation was an infringement of the teams’ First and Fifth Amendment rights.

“The federal trademark registration program is government speech and is therefore exempt from First Amendment scrutiny,” he ruled, adding that “a trademark registration is not considered property under the Fifth Amendment.”

The order does not prevent the pro football team from continuing to use the logo. However, the loss of federal trademark protection could jeopardize some of its commercial and licensing activities.

“To be clear, the Court’s judgment is not an order that precludes PFI [Pro-Football, Inc.] from using the marks in commerce,” Lee wrote. “Nor does the Court’s ruling that the Redskin Marks consisted of matter that ‘may disparage’ a substantial composite of Native Americans during the relevant time period preclude sports fans from collecting, wearing, or displaying the Redskins Marks.

“Courts do not create trademarks; only businesses like PFI control their own destiny with respect to how the public discerns the source and origin of PFI’s goods and services. What actions, if any, PFI takes going forward with the marks are a business judgment beyond the purview of this Court’s jurisdiction.”

-- The "moral" component is interesting, if divorced from the legal. --

The morality/legal line varies. In the case of byurglary, for example, nearly all people agree burglary is both immoral and illegal. The patent law uses the word "useful," and precludes patenting something that is "illegal." The morality part is tougher to get a handle on. There are patents for all sorts of objects and practices that many consider immoral, including weapons of mass desctruction, sex toys (but I repeat myself), and products designed to mislead into harm.

Non-patentability on the "useful" prong is defined by the courts. A decent reference is at www.aippi.org/download/.../ForumSession9_Presentation_Kit_Gordon.pdf. A couple excerpts:

Under common law, in order for an invention to be "useful" for patentability purposes, an invention must "achieve a human purpose that is not illegal, immoral or contrary to public policy" (Callison v. Dean, 70 F2d 55, 58 (10th Cir. 1934)); Lowell v. Lewis, 15 F. Cas. 1018, 1019 (C.C.D. Mass. 1817)

compound to poison people would not be not patentable
gambling devices not patentable

However, Juicy Whip, Inc. v. Orange Bang, Inc., 185 F3d 1364, 1366-68 (Fed. Cir. 1999) - sounded the deathknell for the moral utility requirement in the U.S. The U.S. Patent Office's Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP S: 706.03(a)(II)), citing Juicy Whip, states unequivocally:

A rejection under 35 U.S.C. 101 for lack of utility should not be based on grounds that the invention is frivolous, fraudulent or against public policy

Judge Gerald Bruce Lee

If Snyder continues to defy the libtards' tyranny he will be a hero.
Ignore them, and maybe move the Redskins out of the DC area.
More Americans need to ignore the leftists' unConstitutional bullying.
We The People are receiving absolutely no relief from the statist RINOs despite two landslide elections with a mandate to reverse Obamaism --- thus leaving civil disobedience as the only recourse left.
Hopefully civil disobedience can return the country back on the path of freedom, and hopefully it can be accomplished peacefully.

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