U.S. Patent Office cancels trademark for Redskins football team

[rangerrebew]

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12 Trademarks Declared Less Offensive Than Redskins

Posted By Blake Neff and Jonah Bennett On 4:10 PM 06/18/2014 In | Comments Disabled


In a ruling Wednesday morning, the United States Patent and Trademark Office cancelled six federal trademarks for the name of the Washington Redskins. (RELATED: US Patent Office Cancels ‘Redskins’ Trademark)

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.

Here are twelve other trademarked names that apparently didn’t come up on anyone’s offense radar.

Figgas over Niggas: This pending trademark seeks to cover a line of “Apparel for dancers, namely, tee shirts, sweatshirts, pants, leggings, shorts and jackets.” “Niggas,” of course, is a slang version of the word “bleep,” a term considered highly offensive towards black Americans.

Kraut Kap: Another recently-filed trademark, this one for a line of plastic lids. “Kraut” was made famous in World War II as a derogatory term for opposing German soldiers, as well as Germans in general.

Dago Swagg: A label created for a line of clothing. ”Dago” is a corruption of the common name Diego, and is used in English-speaking countries as an offensive term for those of Italian descent, and occasionally people from other Mediterranean countries as well.

Cracka Azz Skateboards: Unsurprisingly, this trademark was taken out for a line of skateboards and longboards, as well as associated clothing such as bandannas. While the USPTO helpfully notes that “The wording ‘cracka azz’ has no meaning in a foreign language,” “cracka” is a slang version of “cracker,” which in this context is a term of derision for whites, used primarily within the black community.

You Can’t Make A Housewife Out Of A Whore: This trademark for T-shirts and hats appears to imply that women involved in prostitution can never transition into the domestic role of a housewife. Such an accusation would certainly “bring them into contempt or disrepute,” the stated reasoning for eliminating the Redskins trademark.

Blanco Basura: A seemingly innocuous phrase, Blanco Basura, rendered into English, is actually the highly offensive slur “white trash.” White trash is a derogatory insult that typically refers to poor, white Americans, who have a penchant for crime and a patent disrespect for authority. Apparently, they thought they could go unnoticed designing a hateful beer.

Home Cookin Biscuit Head: Intentionality, as we well know, is not required in order for something to be highly, highly offensive. They should’ve done their due diligence before designing this logo for the restaurant industry. The term “biscuit head” has its origins in the Korean War, when American GIs picked this unseemly term to describe the shape of Koreans’ heads.

 
‘teensdoporn.com’: This is a classic example (Safe For Work) of a harmful stereotype used to justify condescension toward teens in the form of countless hours of sex-ed in high school. It wrongfully supposes that all teens are sex-crazed maniacs, who given the chance, will opt for trading their sexuality on a website for fame and fortune.

Gypsy Soule Women Who Live By Their Own Rules: This line of makeup containers and tote bags is a double whammy. “Gypsy” is a term for the itinerant Romani people that derives from the erroneous belief they originated from Egypt, rather than India. In addition, the “Live by their own rules” component hearkens to the common stereotype that Romani routinely ignore the law and engage in criminality.

Mammy Jamia’s: A company going by the name of A & S Cairns Limited has decided to attach its good name to an antebellum slur used to refer to an enslaved black woman who was in charge of household affairs, particularly caring for white children. The product? Frozen fruits and vegetables. Was it really worth it, A &S?

Uppity Negro: Intended to be imprinted on mugs and apparel, this trademark references the frequently used adjective “uppity” to describe blacks who agitated for greater respect and civil rights in the Jim Crow-era South.

All Natural My Dadz Nutz Carmelized Jumbo Redskins: Available at MyDadzNutz.com, this line of savory peanuts is unlikely to run into trouble for applying “redskin” to a line of peanuts. One might argue the two terms describe different things, and so the overlap does not matter, but that hasn’t stopped the old name for Brazil nuts from fading away. Kaffir limes, meanwhile, are a discouraged name in the Oxford Companion to Food, as “kaffir” is a highly offensive term for blacks in South Africa.

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[mountaineer]

Tongue in cheek ...

Sweden Demands Football Vikings Change Name
by Keith Koffler on June 19, 2014, 9:36 am


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 use. Or at least the main thing.

“Secondly, the term ‘Vikings’ suggests a violent race intent on pillaging small villages and stealing their women,” Milkquist continued. “In fact, the Vikings were a peace-loving people who spread goodwill throughout the world and grew strawberries in the summer.”

Milkquist wrote that the “proper” term is “Norsemen,” saying, “Please tell your patent office to rename the team the Minnesota Norsemen.”

He noted that a group of Minnesota Vikings were at one time referred to as “The Purple People Eaters,” adding, “See what I mean?”

Milkquist called the U.S. ambassador into his office Wednesday, handed him the letter, and smacked him in the face. He also suggested to the ambassador that the United States change the name of the Green Bay Packers as well. “It’s nothing against Sweden, it’s just bad name,” he said. “You Americans have no taste.”

The White House said it would immediately begin proceedings to change the Vikings’ moniker.

“The president has ordered the U.S. patent office to revoke the Vikings’ copyright and to arrest Fran Tarkenton and put him in jail,” said White House press Secretary Jay Carney.

Tarkenton, who retired in 1978, will be housed at Gitmo.

“We have openings there,” Carney said, “and it’s the best place to extract information from him.”

Meanwhile, the Cleveland Indians earlier this week successfully rebuffed an attempt by the Obama administration to change their name, with the team’s attorney’s arguing that the name in fact refers to people who live in Subcontinent and is in no way meant to offend Native Americans.

[mrclose]

[mountaineer]

My favorite local restaurant is called Spicy Gringo's. 

[Machiavelli]

[Oceander]

I read an interesting bit in today's WSJ that the basis for removing the Redskins trademark is basically just a recycled argument from the 1990s that an appellate court threw out - i.e., they overruled that argument - so it's possible the team will get the trademark reinstated.

[NavyCanDo]

Here is the possible law of unintended consequences in action.
What happened today didn't force the Redskins to change their name. Just the opposite, it simply said they have no right to the name- which means every knock off t-shirt, hat, and sports apparel maker can make Redskins merchandise without paying royalties back to the Redskins.

All true, but let me expand a bit. The Redskins have a number of trademarks including the logo used on their helmet and the color and design of their uniforms and authorized clothing lines. Those are still protected. But try making a  Redskins helmet and put it for sale at Wallmart without permission from the Team and NFL and , you are going to jail.   The use of the name “Redskins” is the trademark being revoked.   With no trademark restriction someone can print and sale a  I heart Redskins T-shirt as long as the T-shirt colors are not protected by the other Team and NFL trademarks.  Despite what the media is saying this is not the death of the team name. If anything it will increase trademark violations with the Redskins being the winners

[Relic]

I read an interesting bit in today's WSJ that the basis for removing the Redskins trademark is basically just a recycled argument from the 1990s that an appellate court threw out - i.e., they overruled that argument - so it's possible the team will get the trademark reinstated.

You think? Who was AG in 1990? How far left had the country shifted? In 1990 did you think it was possible for a supreme court chief justice to employ tortured logic to uphold a socialist program?

The Redskins better pick an new name, and quickly.

[Oceander]

You think? Who was AG in 1990? How far left had the country shifted? In 1990 did you think it was possible for a supreme court chief justice to employ tortured logic to uphold a socialist program?

The Redskins better pick an new name, and quickly.

The case law has nothing to do with the AG.  Justice Roberts did nothing of the sort and that sort of tortured ad hominem is becoming tedious, to say the least.

[DCPatriot]

I read an interesting bit in today's WSJ that the basis for removing the Redskins trademark is basically just a recycled argument from the 1990s that an appellate court threw out - i.e., they overruled that argument - so it's possible the team will get the trademark reinstated.

The 1992 suit was overturned on appeal....on a technicality.

Today, it was reported that FEDERAL EXPRESS....the Redskins play in "FEDEX FIELD".....may want out of their agreement to have their name on the stadium.

[DCPatriot]

IMO, the logo on the Cleveland Indians is much more offensive than the Washington Redskins logo.



 

[Relic]

The case law has nothing to do with the AG.  Justice Roberts did nothing of the sort and that sort of tortured ad hominem is becoming tedious, to say the least.

Since when do we adhere to case law, or the constitution? If you think the AG had nothing to do with any of this, well, I'll just say we disagree.

As for Roberts, it wasn't an ad hominem, it was a observation based on performance. And I am not the first to call it tortured logic. If it damages your feelings, well, I find THAT tedious.

[NavyCanDo]

"IMO, the logo on the Cleveland Indians is much more offensive than the Washington Redskins logo."


The logo is still protected, they didn't go after that. Just the team name.

[Relic]

IMO, the logo on the Cleveland Indians is much more offensive than the Washington Redskins logo.

You need to make Chief Wahoo a little bigger!

The Chief is on his way out. The Indians use the block C in most applications. The name change will be not long after the Redskins change theirs.

I heard Ohio AG Mike DeWine and he said Chief Wahoo is actually better protected. There isn't a trademark, but Ohio has some kind of common law property protection. DeWine also felt that Chief Wahoo wasn't demeaning because it was a caraciture, not a likeness.

No matter, the leftists will demand it be changed, and it will.

[Oceander]

Since when do we adhere to case law, or the constitution? If you think the AG had nothing to do with any of this, well, I'll just say we disagree.

As for Roberts, it wasn't an ad hominem, it was a observation based on performance. And I am not the first to call it tortured logic. If it damages your feelings, well, I find THAT tedious.

Have it your way then:  it was a patently false analysis based on a tortured misreading of the facts and the opinions in the case.

[Machiavelli]

direct link: http://dailycaller.com/2014/06/18/12-trademarks-declared-less-offensive-than-redskins/

[jmyrlefuller]

And of course, there is N***as With Attitude, the rap group that is getting some buzz for their upcoming movie project.

[mountaineer]

Some commentary:

"Washington Redskins" in poor taste? How about a new name: "Washington Raccoons?"
Washington Window | blog | June 20, 2014 - 2:43pm
Dick Farley, Cape Cod Today
 

WASHINGTON, DC -- Time to get serious about this whole Washington Redskins thing, if you'll pardon my use of their "patently" offensive team name.

Certifiably offensive, it is, after the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office on Wednesday canceled the team's trademark registration. No more logo or name protections, and "open season" on counterfeit souvenirs!

In a 99-page decision issued by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, after deliberating the 'Skins case (that's what we call them around these parts) for well over a year, their edict came down.

"No mo' 'Skins!"

Here and around the nation's capital, especially after Robert Griffin, III (or "RG3") was drafted to flesh out our quarterback slot (more about how that's turning out on the sports pages), it's been "Go 'Skins!" this and "How about them 'Skins?" that. Now what are we going to do?

Well, it's in dispute how many Native Americans... or "First Nations" folk, as they're more properly termed... give a hoot much less a holler about our Washington football team's moniker.

Some polls say as many as 18 percent are uncomfortable with it, suggesting 82 percent either are OK with it, or have other things to care about. The "thought police" and "PC patrols" are up in arms about it, though.

Given the neglect and mishandling of "Indian Affairs" by Uncle Sam and just about everyone else since General Custer, (well, it didn't turn out well for George, but some say he brought it on himself; sad about his cavalrymen, though), many true American Indian people are focusing on their high rates of alcoholism and drug abuse, unemployment and unrelenting poverty.

OK, some are running their tribes' casinos, but it's the up side of their not "really" being in America, after some of those 19th Century treaties they signed, before anybody had ever heard of oil. Or uranium.

However, in Washington, DC, where Congress and the DC government have everything well under control, we have entire bureaucratic offices dedicated to worrying about such matters, and no shortage of law makers eager to weigh in, either.

Indeed, we even had the "Non-Disparagement of American Indians Act of 2013," co-sponsored by DC's ever-vigilant delegate to the U. S. House of Representatives, The Hon. Eleanor Holmes Norton, introduced not long after the 'Skins' case was heard by the trademark court.

The bill didn't pass, but that was never the point.

The point was it gave renewed opportunity to bash Redskins owner Dan Snyder, who's wealthy and white and so is fair game, and who has steadfastly refused to buckle under to calls for a name change of his team.

Dan even set up a charity to benefit Native American causes, but that didn't satisfy Eleanor, who's not even an Indian, anyway. See how tangled up this can get?

Hey! It's football! It's a game!

Lots of cool guys, black and white (OK, so not many Indians) like to play it, make some money if they're really good at it, and don't seem to have a problem being "Redskins" for a day or so once a week.

Back to Dan Snyder, the Redskins' owner.

Emphasis on "his" team. He owns it. Bought and paid for it, pays his players among the best in the biz and is concentrating on figuring out how to win football games, preferably the Super Bowl again. As noted, for details see the sports pages.

What Delegate Norton has yet to do is offer an alternative name for Washington's pigskin pastime, so we are opening yet another contest, this one for Cape and Island readers to try and untangle this Gordian Knot of a conundrum.

(Sorry, but if I use any words or metaphors unfamiliar to readers or Twitter users, please Google them.)

I'll start. Here's my suggestion, given that my wife is a graduate wildlife scientist and I hail from West Virginia, which is still "Wild and Wonderful," if not quite "Almost Heaven" as our pal, the late John Denver, called it

The Washington Redskins should consider being called...  (wait for it)... the Washington Raccoons!

Those furry little mammals come to your house in the night and take stuff you leave outside. Like Congress, in a manner of speaking.

Heck, raccoons wear a mask, and they already come with a black eye.

So the occasional infantile millionaire "ex-college athlete" pro footballer doesn't have to make the headlines for an after-hours party altercation or go into rehab just to generate publicity.

Not if he's a Washington Raccoon! He can be a "bad dude" if he wants to, just by showing up for practice.

Raccoons, despite being pesky and sometimes messy, are cuddly and cute.

What football player doesn't want to be seen by his fans as cuddly and cute?

Bears are cuddly and cute, too, but Chicago took that one.

Lions, Cardinals, Bruins (OK, those are bears, too), Penguins, Dolphins.  But you get the point.

Native Americans... or First Nations people... or even "Redskins," if you'll pardon the alleged pejorative... would understand using an animal as a team totem, where the critters' attributes are honored by folks.

So, let's hear it again for the Washington Raccoons!

There are practical considerations and benefits for Dan Snyder to adopt our suggested name.

First, "Redskins" and "Raccoons" have the same number of letters. Count 'em if you don't believe me. I'll wait.

And the first and last letters are the same, too. Thus, we have to change only six letters on our shirts. Six!

So team regalia and the big gold "R" on some of our hats could stay pretty much the same, just put a few different letters on the garments, banners and stickers and: "Voila!" It's game time!

Just imagine how many cuddly stuffed raccoons will be sold, and how cute the new team mascot will be in his big furry head and mask, running around pestering the other team's Lion or Bear or a guy in a bird suit.

What's not to like?

Raccoons don't have any "animal rights" extremists campaigning or fundraising for them, or against any slights or ill treatment, other than maybe their all-too-frequent status as road kill on our highways.

Heck, the Washington team could even make that a warm and fuzzy "raccoon rights campaign," urging motorists not to text and drive, especially at night, lest they flatten a cute critter unjustly in their reckless haste.

It's settled, then?

OK, let's give a big cheer for our new team in the nation's capital, the Washington Raccoons!

Here we go, all together now, instead of "Go... go... go... 'Skins!"

It's now going to be: "Let's go 'Coo..."

Oh, wait. Uh, oh. That's never going to work.

Never mind. We'd better go with the Washington Roadkills!

Almost the same number of letters. Same "R" and "s."

And we'll stay out of Patent Court, too.