The issue of the Redskins name has taken an interesting twist. Judge Gerald Lee of US District Court in Alexandria has ruled that the Redskins team has the right to sue a group of Native Americans over trademark rights.
Earlier this year, the Redskins were stripped of their trademark rights by the US Patent & Trademark Office because Native Americans found the name offensive. In a turn of events, the latest ruling by Judge Gerald Lee appears to be a step back for Native Americans diligently trying to get the team to change their name. Here are the details for the judge’s ruling.
Judge Gerald B. Lee of the U.S. District Court in Alexandria rejected an attempt by a group of Native Americans to dismiss the team’s lawsuit against them.
The Redskins filed suit in the summer after the activists won a major ruling by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office earlier this year. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board said the team could not retain its trademark protections because so many American Indians find the team’s name offensive. The team said it needed to sue the Native Americans to overturn the patent and trademark board’s decision.
The activists argued last month in court that the team should have brought the case against the Patent and Trademark Office’s director — not them. They argued that they have no economic interest in vying for the trademarks like a rival business might, and therefore aren’t a legitimate party that can be sued in federal district court.
But Lee said Tuesday that the five Native Americans — led by Amanda Blackhorse, an Arizona-based social worker from the Navajo Nation — are indeed the people the Redskins should have sued.
“Merely pointing out that [the Native Americans] have not used the registered marks and have no legal or economic interest in the marks does not absolve them of any interest in the case,” he wrote.
Lee said the Native Americans’ “personal stake” in the case makes them a proper target for a lawsuit.
He said that because the activists had proper standing to petition the trademark appeal board, they also are appropriate defendants in a lawsuit that seeks to review the board’s rulings.
The Native Americans “were the sole representatives on behalf of the petition for cancellation, were listed as the adverse parties, and were heavily involved in the proceedings” before the trademark appeals board, Lee said, noting that they had produced 7,000 pages of evidence in the case and sat for multiple depositions. “Based on these facts, [the Native Americans] are clearly adverse parties.”
Lee also said that if he had dismissed the case, the order would have deprived the Redskins of any chance to appeal the board’s decision.
Neither the group of Native Americans nor the Redskins team have made a comment regarding the judge’s decision.
[h/t Washington Post]