Patent office didn’t receive a single public complaint before stripping Redskins trademark
By
Jim McElhattonThe Washington Times
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
The recent decision by an obscure administrative law board to cancel the
Washington Redskins‘ trademark registrations came despite the fact the agency hadn’t received a single letter from a member of the public complaining about the team’s name, records show.
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, which is part of the
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, ruled last month that the name was disparaging to American Indians. The team is appealing that decision.
Politicians, including President Obama, have waded into the team name controversy, with many saying the team should change its name. But despite widespread media attention and a legal fight that goes back more than a decade, the
USPTO recently acknowledged there’s hardly been an avalanche of public complaints filed with the agency.
In fact, the agency doesn’t have any record of correspondence from the public about the
Redskins‘ name — expressing sentiments one way or another — prior to the
board’s June 18 ruling.
