How The Redskins' Delightfully Vulgar Court Filing Won Me Over
from the team-redskins dept
I've never really made it a secret how much I loathe the Washington Redskins organization. I dislike their tasteless, stupid, racist team name. I hate their dumb, overly-litigious owner. And I really have nothing but disdain for the team's attempt to control public perception by strong-arming the media. And, in past posts, I've come down on the side of the government when it cancelled the team's trademark for its name, declaring that the government shall not be in the business of granting trademarks for terms that are disparaging. I was slightly less comfortable when the DOJ made a weak argument that denying the trademark wasn't a First Amendment violation, but, still, no Redskins trademark was a good thing in my mind, partially because I hate the Redskins.
But I hate hypocrisy more. And government hypocrisy is the most delicious hate-meal I've ever found, which is why I'm jumping ship and declaring myself on team Redskins. What hypocrisy am I talking about? Well, the government's hypocrisy as delightfully and vulgarly laid out in this filing the team put in its appeals case.
The PTO has registered hundreds if not thousands of marks that the Team believes are racist, or misogynistic, vulgar,It's hard to decide exactly which part of this is more fun: the clearly gleeful way the filing lists these apparently valid trademarks or the image in my head of a government mid-level employee stamping "GRANTED" on an application for Big Titty Blend Coffee. Regardless, what's made clear in this filing is that the government's unwillingness to grant a trademark on vulgar or disparaging terms is wildly inconsistent. The term Redskins, after all, can't be said to be any more offensive than "Dago." What appeared to be a stance by the PTO on grounds of value instead now looks to be wind-socking for the outrage gale. And for the Redskins organization, that sucks and has to be massively frustrating.
or otherwise offensive. By way of example only, the following marks are registered today: TAKE YO PANTIES OFF clothing; DANGEROUS NEGRO shirts; SLUTSSEEKER dating services; DAGO SWAGG clothing; DUMB BLONDE beer; TWATTY GIRL cartoons; BAKED BY A NEGRO bakery goods; BIG TITTY BLEND coffee; RETARDIPEDIA website; MIDGET-MAN condoms and inflatable sex dolls; and JIZZ underwear. These are not isolated instances. The government routinely registers pornographers’ marks: TEENSDOPORN.COM, MILFSDOPORN.COM, THUG PORN, GHETTO BOOTY, and BOUND GANGBANGS are but a few.
And for the argument I had previously made -- that government ought not endorse the term "Redskins" through granting it a trademark -- to work, the government would need to be consistent on the matter. Otherwise, it is picking and choosing speech as a matter of government acknowledgement. It appears the PTO has proven itself incapable of this consistency, again, per the filing.
No one today thinks registration reflects government approval. But if this Court holds that it does, how will the government explain registrations like MARIJUANA FOR SALE, CAPITALISM SUCKS DONKEY BALLS, LICENSED SERIAL KILLER, YID DISH, DIRTY WHOOORE CLOTHING COMPANY, and MURDER 4 HIRE?Now, look, is the term Redskins an antiquated, racist term? Absolutely yes. Is it still worth hating Daniel Snyder for making this the hill he wants to die on, rather than simply coming up with another team name? Oh, for sure. But should a government be applying standards of offense to trademark registrations when its shown itself to be incapable of having any consistent standards in doing so? No, I don't think it should any longer. I did think so, but I was wrong.
So...sigh...go Redskins, I guess.
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Filed Under: first amendment, free speech, redskins, trademark, uspto, vulgarity
Companies: washington redskins
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I think you are mistaken
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First one needs to care
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If you add a Libertarian/Authoritarian axis, both the Democrat and Republican parties are obviously fellow travelers who agree wholeheartedly in Authoritarianism and only disagree on which Constitutional/human rights need to go away first.
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How long would a team named the "mighty niggers" be tolerated?
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Depends on who you ask.
How long would a team named the "mighty niggers" be tolerated?
Oh? Which team was that?
Yeah, that's what I thought.
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Second, as pointed out, the context is TOTALLY different. The name is used in a way to suggest power and cunning. A closer term than "whitey" as far as context goes would probably be "The Man".
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While I think you are missing the point, I'll play along.
How long do you think a team named "the really smart asian kids" would be tolerated?
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By their fans? Not one second. Smart asian kids aren't badass enough.
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Blacks call each other nigger all the time. "Hey nigger!" It's an inside joke, just like the Pirate Party using the intended insulting "pirate" epithet with pride, throwing it in the face of their accusers.
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They'll go balls to the wall against a city for putting up a Christmas tree in their zeal to protect the 1st Amendment, but when it comes to the 2nd Amendment? Crickets...
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They sue if there is a nativity display underneath that tree and the government refuses to allow other religions to put up a display as well. In that the 1st is simple, either you allow all or allow none on government property.
And that is something a whole lot of Christian fanatics don't understand and don't want to understand since they absolutely must piss on this territory to mark it as theirs. Making the rest of us Christians look bad and be at the same time the best advertisement against Christianity as a religion.
The 2nd does not have this problem the government willfully ignoring the constitution and not having to fear a public backlash for trying to do so (as compared to NOT ignoring the 1st tends to generate the outrage).
Just remember the outrage the last time Obama suggested (not proposed a law or anything just suggested) that we might want to look at ways to keep guns out of hands of mentally ill people with violent tendencies.
The ACLU didn't have to do anything.
Further the first place people go if there would be such a violation is the NRA since it has placed itself as a defender of gun rights though the ACLU would file an amicus brief if the NRA would ever have to sue a violator.
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Umm, what did you just say? Are you seriously trying to claim that a Christmas tree is not a symbol of the Christmas holiday? Or do you think that other religions also celebrate Christmas? You sound very confused.
I don't mind at all if the government allows religious displays (pretty lights!), as long as they allow all religions, but don't try to claim that symbols of a religious holiday aren't also symbols of that religion.
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Btw, what does the star on top of (most?) Christmas trees mean to you?
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I said that the christmas tree is not considered religious not that it is not one of the (secularized) symbols of the christmas holiday.
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Much more interesting is a leftward drift of the ACLU. They've added a lot of "soft", "progressive" causes to their menu. I might be in favor of those for their own sake, but by a different organization. The ACLU should stick to traditional civil liberties and retain broad support.
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> amendment?
Because in their charter-- you know, that thing that provides the basis for an organization's existence?-- they claim their entire reason for existing is to maintain the Bill of Rights against government encroachment.
The 2nd Amendment is part of the Bill of Rights.
Can you see the logic here?
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https://reason.com/blog/2007/04/06/the-aclu-defends-gun-rights
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com /2014/04/robert-farago/aclu-defends-missouri-gun-rights-guy/
There are more. I just didn't feel like googling for more than 30 seconds.
Furthermore the NRA has got it covered. They are a one issue group and they've got a budget of ~$250M/yr while the ACLU has a budget of ~$135/yr. Faulting them for spending their money on the 2nd amendment is just cherry-picking.
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Even if you want to hand-wave away the ACLU's lack of attention to the 2nd Amendment as due to the NRA's occupation of that space, you still have no explanation for the ACLU's lack of attention to the 10th Amendment, which is also a part of the Bill of Rights.
There's no behemoth analogous to the NRA that's fighting 10th Amendment cases such that the ACLU is free to ignore them. And it's not like there's no shortage of 10th Amendment cases to press. The federal government is like that plant in LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS-- eating up everything in sight and growing larger and larger by the minute. There are 10th Amendment issues in just about everything the federal government does these days, but once again, crickets from the ACLU, because, as a generally leftist/progressive organization, they like the idea of a strong central government running things for everyone. The idea of telling the feds, "No, this bit doesn't belong to you. It belongs to the states and some of the states may not share your agenda" is anathema to the folks who work at the ACLU.
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Perhaps they have correctly deduced that the gun lobby is handling that just fine, whereas there is no powerful wealthy lobbying organization fighting to protect the 1st amendment. I don't know if that's actually their motivation, but it would certainly be sufficient to explain their focus.
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> but I would rather see them focus on the less defended
> areas. We got the 2nd covered for now :)
That might be fine if they just left 2nd Amendment cases alone altogether, but in some instances they actually take the pro-government side-- submitting amicus briefs in *favor* of government restriction on 2nd Amendment rights.
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> is handling that just fine, whereas there is no powerful
> wealthy lobbying organization fighting to protect the 1st
> amendment.
There are all sorts of pro-1st Amendment legal defense funds and law school clinics out there.
FIRE comes to mind just off the top of my head.
No, the real reason is that the ACLU just doesn't like the 2nd Amendment, so it doesn't bother fighting to uphold it.
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Yes, but no multi-billion dollar corporate lobbies. That I know of, anyway.
No, the real reason is that the ACLU just doesn't like the 2nd Amendment, so it doesn't bother fighting to uphold it.
That is plausible, but I wonder if you have any evidence for it.
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Re: Libruls, Repugs, ... Pick a side and fight!
Yeah, and conservative, bible belt, moral majority types never do anything even remotely similar. How do you Red Team vs. Blue Team types manage to continue this silly game still?!?
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Some of those trademarks do fall in the same category as redskins but most of them are intended to insult the people who would use those terms derogatively. And stuff like "teensdoporn" jesus, that's not insulting anyone.
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I'm so sick of the politically correct people forcing their opinions down the throats of everyone else. Free speech exists for everyone, not a select few.
And, Tim, If you hate the Redskins so much, why do you always seem to be the one that writes about them? Recuse yourself and let someone less biased write the stories.
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Any Native that is offended deserves to be offended! Same goes for any OTHER race offended by simple words! Easy to offend is a sign of a simple mind not worth paying any attention to!
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Yeah, you're sort of what Blacks call an "Uncle Tom". You drank the white guys' koolaid. Chyaa, right. :-P
Hell, I'm caucasian, and the "Native" designation offends me! I was born here just like they were. My mom even told me (dirty little family secret :-) there's some native blood in my family from back a few generations ago. I wear that with pride!
I wish we could all just toss this stupid appearance BS. Skin color, bone structure, and gender are so damned irrelevant. What's in a person's head's what matters.
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Well "Indian" is both confusing and inaccurate. "Aboriginal" would probably be better than "native" but for some reason that wasn't selected or didn't catch on.
My mom even told me (dirty little family secret :-) there's some native blood in my family from back a few generations ago.
There's a good chance that's nothing more than a family legend. There are millions of people who claim an unspecified quantity of Native American ancestry from an unspecified person.
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Follow caucasians back, and you end up in Europe. Follow (North, Central, and South) American Aboriginals and you end up in Siberia. Follow both of them back, and you end up in Olduvai Gorge. We're all Ethiopian or African. I'm just a paler shade of Negro than regular blacks.
Perhaps because it's true. Here in Canada, we had a lot of caucasians interbreeding with aboriginals (there's lots of Metis here), and we almost all (excepting negros and Chinese?) have Neanderthal genes in us.
"Race" is BS. All it does is enable cultural bias; "us vs. them."
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That's a nice thought, but I think most people can tell the difference between an African, a southeast Asian, and a European. Race is an actual thing, even if defining it isn't easy. Also by denying the reality of race, you are claiming there can't be any such thing as racial discrimination. But perhaps I misunderstand your claim that race is BS.
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https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150224/10512730124/guardian-details-horrors-chicago-polices -cia-style-black-site.shtml
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Guess they need a new state name...
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Cleveland Indians... Not sure how that could be insulting on its own. See Vikings.
Florida State Seminoles... Have an agreement with the tribe, and dispensation to use the spear ceremony.
Kansas City Chiefs... Again, not sure how that's insulting
Golden State Warriors... Ditto
Vancouver Canucks... The only way that could be considered insulting is that the national nickname is appropriated by one team. See Yankees.
If you can't see how Redskins is in a different league (as it were) than the above, I don't know what to tell you other than stop opining on the subject. This is not in your wheelhouse.
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> (as it were) than the above, I don't know what to
> tell you other than stop opining on the subject. This
> is not in your wheelhouse.
The point isn't whether it's insulting or not. The point is that the USPTO made its decision based on political pressure and not the law.
How else to explain why there's a Redskin Tobacco Company that uses an Indian head logo, and their trademark is still perfectly valid? The government hasn't made any move to cancel that trademark, yet the football team's has been. That's what you call some fucked up banana republic shit, right there.
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Redskin Tobacco Company
As far as I can tell, from an extensive search (Google), no one has sold tobacco under that brand in decades, and the only products available seem to be spittoons.
Regardless, if it were a registered trademark it would be subject to cancelation too.
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Let's not go overboard here. We're on Techdirt, here. You can't own a spear ceremony, even if you are a race.
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The key issue w/the Cleveland Indians is their super-racist logo, a cartoon indian brave that is literally cherry red in color....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Wahoo
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https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/63/Washington_Redskins_logo.svg/100px-Washing ton_Redskins_logo.svg.png
See the difference? One is insulting and the other is not.
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Indian is regarded as an insult by a small minority of native americans. You'll never achieve perfection, but when a word is considered a slur by at least 2:1 of the people slurred that's a pretty good sign it is not acceptable.
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There are those who claim that the term "Indian" is insulting to "Native Americans".
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It's a particularly easy change to make, actually, as the Blackhawks aren't even named after the Indian tribe....
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*snort*
oh, wait a minute, they bribed enough uncle tom tom's to get a special dispensation... my mistake...
also agree about team name changes, which often border on the ludicrous: new orleans jazz changing to the UTAH jazz when they moved ? ? ? UTAH, "JAZZ" ? c'mon...
'yeah, me and martha are going to Salt Lake Jazz Fest with the Hot Mormon Quintet headlining, its where everyone who loves jazz goes...'
just one more reason why sports teams should be locally owned by the citizens, like green bay... which is just one more reason why the sports kingpins will NEVER let that happen again...
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Well, the trademark office can't do a thing about the chant. They only have authority over the actual trademark.
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Many teams are owned locally. The problem is that it is increasingly rare to find an ownership or senior management who actually played the sport. The teams who have an ownership/management that actually played the sport are the consistently successful teams, even if they don't make their playoffs. I'll cite the NBA's Phoenix Suns as an example. Under the current ownership this team has had more 'stinker' seasons than they ever had under the old ownership.
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That's an interesting claim, do you have any evidence for it or is it just your personal observation?
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Since owners aren't playing the sport but actually running an entertainment enterprise/organization I'd say their athletic prowess in their youth is wholly irrelevant....
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I felt the same way about every single Muslim idiot who martyred himself taking out those evil people who drew cartoons mocking the pederast prophet. But who I hated more were the "progressive" defenders in the media who basically blamed the victim for "triggering" oppressed people with their offensive display of Western hegemony. Those dead cartoonists in Paris would be alive today if only they had checked their privilege.
Funny how the "change the channel" argument only applied to their conservative rivals trying to pull Teletubbies and Will & Grace off the air for promoting a nonexistent "gay agenda." Now that the shoe is on the other foot, and it's libertarians (not "conservatives" of the Jerry Falwell set) saying J'Accuse to left-wingers trying to pull South Park and Charlie Hebdo for promoting a nonexistent "systemic white privilege" agenda, "change the channel" is suddenly a racist slogan no different from "Arbeit Macht Frei" or "Segregation Forever"?
I've had just about enough of whiners on both sides trying to tell me what I can do or believe or draw or look up online or what have you. I support people's right to offend. No one has the right not to be offended. Change the channel or turn it off if something bothers you that much. But don't take away other people's right to enjoy it if they wish (not that anyone really enjoys a Redskins game, but you get my point).
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http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2015/11/04/feminists-are-trying-to-frame-linus-torvalds-for- sexual-assault-claims-open-source-industry-veteran/
If there was ever a move guaranteed to backfire you are looking at it with that link. Already business men are saying they would rather not hire women to avoid sexual harassment charges. Men seem to get by without having to resort to such as often. Give a few more years of this and of the incidents reported often here of happenings on uni campuses and women in the workforce will be really hard to find.
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A racist would find any term referring to "those people" as derogatory by definition, because of who it refers to, not because having a particular tone of skin really matters.
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Since when
Let me kill you and take your land.....
Instead of killing you, you can be forced to live in this land we give you.
We give to you we take away from you - America the true Indian givers
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Re: Since when
At the same time, it's important to keep in mind that American culture treats Indians differently than other minorities.
There's a strong strain in the culture that *respects* Indians because they fought back. It's true they lost, but not without putting up an impressive fight.
That's why we have so many sports teams named after Indian tribes and terms - Americans respect those who fight hard.
It may be best today to change the team name, but we should also acknowledge that it was chosen as a term of respect - nobody names sports teams after things they disrespect.
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Re: Since when
Tecumseh and his people were valued allies when the US and Britain were bashing it out. There was a deal in place giving them a huge territory around the Great Lakes once the battle had been won.
Of course, the US then stabbed them in the back once they'd outlived their usefulness.
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Great Article!
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Why is it seen as a derogative use of the name instead of celebrating the use of the name?
Are we going to decide all the other team names have to be changed because some random person decides to start being offended?
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Latest News
"Redskins owner finally admits that in light of recent events he is no longer willing to endure the embarrassment associated with the team name. From now on the team will be known as the Virginia Redskins."
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It's an insulting name and derogatory towards Native Americans that's all that needs to be said.
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Interesting arguments but doomed to fail
Really though, the presence of those other marks on the register does not matter much, since they've never been challenged. If they were, some would surely be cancelled, especially the marks that employ seemingly racist language. No doubt confusingly similar marks, and descriptive marks, and offensive marks, make it on to the register, but that's why there are provisions for opposition and cancelations.
And even after cancelation, there is nothing preventing the use of the REDSKINS trademark under common law, which also undermines the first amendment argument.
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Cancellations coming?
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Re: Interesting arguments but doomed to fail
But a trademark registration is not an endorsement. From the filing: "It strains credulity that the public 'closely' associates GUN CONTROL MY ASS and DOES THIS GUN MAKE MY BUTT LOOK BIG? with the federal government, which very recently registered these marks."
The government does display the speech, but that's just their own requirement. "The District Court reasoned that in publishing the Official Gazette and the 'Principal Register,' the 'government is the literal speaker.' But the government publishes copyright registrations, and thus the court’s theory would permit the government to discriminate against books based on content and viewpoint. The government could refuse to provide permits for unpopular rallies if it simply posted all permits on the Internet."
Perhaps, but it seems odd in the extreme for the government to claim that something is "its" speech when "it relies exclusively on private citizens to seek cancellation."
Nothing except the loss of equal protection under the law. Like they said, "The government cannot turn the lights off at a Redskins night game because the government disfavors the name, and defend the action because the Redskins can still play in the dark. Registration confers indispensable legal protections, and the government cannot condition those protections on a trademark-owner’s agreement to forgo disfavored speech."
The entire POINT of the challenge to the registration was to use the power of the government to get them to change their name; you can't claim that the First Amendment doesn't apply.
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Great Points
Since a trademark registration is not considered property under the Fifth Amendment, not being granted a registration may not be considered a loss.
I don't see that freedom of speech entitles one party government mandated exclusivity over the commercial expression of that speech. Courts have given much greater latitude to laws that restrict commercial speech, and individuals are not robbed of their rights of free expression when the government polices commercial speech.
Further, in my eyes, the intention of the challengers is to stop the use of a disparaging trademark. Whether the owner of the mark chooses to change their name, or whether the challenger wants them to choose a new name is really irrelevant.
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Re: Interesting arguments but doomed to fail
> government can be impelled to endorse or display speech
> which has been deemed vulgar and offensive
For god's sake, people keep saying this but a trademark is *not* an endorsement.
A trademark isn't a government endorsement of that product or its name/logo any more than a adult video shop's business license means the city that issued it endorses pornography.
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assuming such a thing as race....
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Wouldn't cup size also be a factor?
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Oh sure. And the company could release another line (same product, different packaging) called, "Men Are Oinkers" or "Tiny Penis Heads" which they could market to women.
Some guys' attitudes make me wonder how any men ever get laid. I suppose many women are just gluttons for punishment or masochists, just like many men. Hey, commonality! Yippee! What's good for the goose ...
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Follow the Money!
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Just pick a new name
How about the Washington Representatives, with a cartoon senator on the helmet? Or the Washington Beltways, with a cartoon highway? Or the Washington Monuments, a team so strong they can't be pushed around?
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Re: Just pick a new name
Representatives is a bit long, and they don't actually do anything. The Washington Lobby? The Washington Fixers maybe?
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First off, there is the problem that a minority is relabeling an accepted term to be pejorative with absolutely no proof as no studies have been performed to determine what percentage of Americans/native Americans find it pejorative. We are just supposed to take the word of what can only be labeled a small minority without proof.
Secondly, as the Redskins' filing pointed out, to selectively remove copyright on one pejorative term without invalidating all the other pejorative terms is selective enforcement. The copyright office can only remove trademark on all potentially pejorative terms or none of them.
Lastly, the definition of just what is & what is not pejorative is highly subjective and many common terms are considered offensive by some. Must we go down the SJW road and remove them all? Is it sufficient that only one person find a term offensive for it to be refused trademark? If not one, then how many?
Before any movement on banning existing trademarks or refusing to accord new ones can be taken, clear rules must be defined and accepted by the courts.
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Clear rules
FWIW you are mixing copyrights and trademarks. Two different critters, and two different governmental offices.
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http://www.kivitv.com/news/boise-coffee-shop-finds-themselves-in-the-midst-of-the-redskins-leg al-battle
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