Is ‘Redskins’ Too Offensive to be Trademarked?
The Trademark Trial and Appeals Board, the TTAB, has recently heard a case to determine if the Washington Redskins name is disparaging, and therefore should be stripped of its protected trademark status. This has been a long disputed issue. The case was organized by Suzan Shown Harjo, president of the advocacy group the Morning Star Institute. The lead plaintiff is Amanda Blackhorse, a young Native American, who believes the term ‘redskin’ to be a racial slur. Harjo was famously the lead...
Read MoreLoss of Trademark Rights: Embracing Negative Trademarks
Red Sox fans, Mets fans, and baseball fans of any team other than the Yankees will tell you that the Yankees are evil. Now, so have a panel of federal judges. Last month, the Yankees successfully blocked a trademark application by Evil Enterprises for the phrase “Baseball’s Evil Empire”. Evil Enterprises initially applied for a trademark back in July of 2008, and it’s been the source of a five year fight between the baseball club and the t-shirt makers since. The phrase originated back...
Read MoreTrademark Abandonment: When Enforcement Conflicts With Other Obligations
Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel won the Heisman Trophy last year as a freshman, and is widely considered one of the best football players in the country. His nickname, Johnny Football is very popular in College Station, Texas. Fans of the Aggies are clamoring for t-shirts that read Johnny Football. But, the freshman phenom is forbidden by NCAA rules from profiting. If Johnny Football were to set up a t-shirt company and start selling apparel, he would lose his scholarship, under NCAA...
Read MoreInternational Trademark Registration – Madrid Protocol
The Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, also known as the Madrid Protocol, is an international trademark treaty that allows for residents of any member country to file a single international trademark application. The treaty only covers trademark registration, however, and does not guarantee the trademark’s effectiveness across the variety of member states’ legal systems. The primary advantage of the Madrid Protocol is that an...
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