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ARTICLE · 19 JUNE 2014

Divided TTAB Panel Once Again Finds REDSKINS Trademarks Disparaging

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A divided panel of the TTAB has ruled that six registered marks including the term REDSKINS owned by the Washington NFL franchise should be cancelled.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Foley Hoag LLP
Foley Hoag LLP
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In a ruling sure to generate heated discussion in the sports world, the trademark community and elsewhere, a divided panel of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) has ruled that six registered marks including the term REDSKINS owned by the Washington NFL franchise should be cancelled.

A Long, Strange Trip

Of the six marks at issue, one was registered in 1967, three in 1974, one in 1978, and the most recent in 1990. It is well established that a finding of disparagement must be based upon perception of the term among a "substantial composite of the referenced group" at the time of registration. The TTAB ended up in the awkward position of trying to determine this question in 2014.

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