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ARTICLE · 25 AUGUST 2020

Trade Mark Squatters Target The Washington Redskins' Name-Change Process

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Facing mounting pressure from major retailers and the public, the Washington Redskins NFL franchise finally announced that it will be retiring its controversial Redskins name and logo.

South AfricaIntellectual Property
Chiraag Maharaj
Chiraag Maharaj
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Facing mounting pressure from major retailers and the public, the Washington Redskins NFL franchise finally announced that it will be retiring its controversial Redskins name and logo. The team's name has been widely contested, with a decades-long campaign from Native American groups, describing it as a "dictionary-defined racial slur". While the possibility of a team name change has been circulating for years, it appears that the franchise has not yet taken steps to secure ownership rights to use some of the more likely, or popular, replacement names that have been suggested.

According to the Law.com Daily Business Review, someone who is keen to "steal a play" on one of the NFL's oldest franchises' naming predicament is an American entrepreneur, Philip McCaulay. Quick to his feet, he has been registering a host of potential Washington franchise names for apparel and merchandise, as well as websites that feature American Football content, with trade marks such as "W

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