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Yahoo Sports: "Trademark judges to hear new case vs Redskins name"

Dead Money

, Mike Wise HATE'r
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Here we go.....again.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/trademark-judges-hear-case-vs-195833550--nfl.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- As someone who has spent nearly a third of her life fighting the Washington Redskins nickname, Suzan Shown Harjo had a good laugh when asked about the team's latest line of defense.
Redskins general manager Bruce Allen said last month that it is ''ludicrous'' to think that the team is ''trying to upset anybody'' with its nickname, which many Native Americans consider to be offensive.
That's beside the point, according to Harjo. She's never suggested that the Redskins deliberately set out to offend anyone. But that doesn't mean that people aren't offended.
''It's just like a drive-by shooting,'' Harjo said Wednesday. ''They're trying to make money, and not caring who is injured in the process - or if anyone is injured in the process. I don't think they wake up or go to sleep dreaming of ways to hurt Native people. I think they wake up and go to sleep thinking of ways to make money - off hurting Native people.''
The long-running battle over the name gets a restart Thursday, when a group of Native Americans goes before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to argue that the Redskins should lose their federal trademark protection, based on a law that prohibits registered names that disparaging, scandalous, contemptuous or disreputable.
Harjo has won this round before. She was one of the plaintiffs when the board stripped the Redskins of the trademark in 1999, but the ruling was overturned in 2003 in large part on a technicality. Essentially, the courts decided that the plaintiffs were too old, that they should have filed their complaint soon after the Redskins registered their nickname in 1967, or shortly they became adults and therefore old enough to file a case.
So this new case was begun in 2006 by a different group of Native Americans, with ages ranging from 18 to 24 at the time it was filed. For various reasons, it's taken seven years for it to get this far. It's now been 21 years since Harjo, now 67, filed the original case.
''It's not what I do every breathing hour, but it's been that long since I've become a thing rather than a person,'' said Harjo, who is president of the Washington-based Morning Star Institute, an advocacy group. ''By that, I mean I'm the 'Harjo case.' And people talk to me sometimes, saying, 'Well, in Harjo, da-da da-da da-da.' It is a little startling.''
The motive is to force Redskins owner Dan Snyder into a change by weakening him financially. Redskins lawyer Robert Raskopf said during the previous case that the team would suffer ''every imaginable loss you can think of'' if it no longer had the exclusive marketing rights to its name.
A Redskins spokesman said the team would have no comment Wednesday. Snyder has always vowed not to change the name, and the team has said that it is meant to honor Native Americans, not ridicule them. Allen said last month that a change isn't being considered.
''There's nothing that we feel is offensive,'' Allen said. ''And we're proud of our history.''
The name debate has generated off-and-on discussion in the nation's capital over the decades, but there's been a renewed momentum in recent weeks. The Redskins were denounced time and again at a daylong symposium at the Smithsonian last month, and politicians and local columnists have since either expressed reservations about the name or condemned it outright.
''You stack up more and more, greater support,'' Harjo said.
Previous predictions of an impending change, however, have not borne fruit. In 1998, while pursuing the first case, Harjo said: ''I fully expect these names to be a thing of the past in 10 years. I think that will happen whether or not we win this suit.''
 
never mind... I guess I understand now.

I wonder if Snyder would change the name if they lost the trademark.
 
I don't know the law, much less trademark law, enough to know the answer to this... maybe someone else does...

this has already been brought to the courts and it was ruled that they waited too long to file a complaint about being offended. how can this go back to the courts again?

Try to find a sympathetic judge who will rule in their favor... Happens all the time. The lawyers keep plugging away to find a new avenue through the laws on the books that will get them in...
 
Didn't know this:

The board stripped the Redskins of the trademark in 1999, but the ruling was overturned in large part on a technicality. The same technicality doesn't apply to the new group of plaintiffs.

So...its basically in the bag for them, right? If Snyder loses exclusive rights, no chance he doesn't change the name.
 
Try to find a sympathetic judge who will rule in their favor... Happens all the time. The lawyers keep plugging away to find a new avenue through the laws on the books that will get them in...

Well I joined the "don't read but respond anyway" army on this one. I always thought courts upheld dismissals - if one judge threw something out other judges tend to stick to that ruling and not re-hear the case. obviously appeals is a different animal, this isn't an appeal it's a re-filing of the same case with different complainants.

it looks like they're going after the technicality that the first suit was filed by people who were older so the judges questioned the timing and why it took so long.

so now they're getting people that are younger.

fight a technicality with a technicality.
 
With all the despair facing so many Indians, this group should be ashamed of spending two seconds, or two cents, on this useless cause.

If they hung themselves, and left all their own money and belongings, along with lawyer fees, to actually helping other Indians, they'd be more honorable.

As it is, they're just attention whores, and money grabbers.
 
I don't know - I could see Snyder saying 'screw it' even if he lost trademark rights, and taking the hit. Yes - I think he's that stubborn and I would actually love it. So tired of this PC bull****.
 
With Griffin selling more jerseys is one season than any other player in the history of the NFL, you think the NFL is going to stand for losing that kind of revenue losing a trademark? It's not just the Redskins losing here, the entire NFL shares in the merchandise sales.
 
I'm utterly fed up with the whiny few forcing change on the masses.

Other than that, not much I can say that hasn't been hashed, rehashed, and triple-hashed a billion times.
 
I don't know - I could see Snyder saying 'screw it' even if he lost trademark rights, and taking the hit. Yes - I think he's that stubborn and I would actually love it. So tired of this PC bull****.
Oh I would love it too. It's what I would do if I owned the team.

I just think money, specifically making money, is too important to him.
 
Question for you local guys. Does Dan or the Redskins in general ever publicly donate to charitable causes for/by Indians? Setting up like a scholarship or something would go a long way imho. Maybe if he did something for awareness these groups may pipe down a bit.

For the record i see the few pursuing this name change as attention whores as well.
 
Question for you local guys. Does Dan or the Redskins in general ever publicly donate to charitable causes for/by Indians? Setting up like a scholarship or something would go a long way imho. Maybe if he did something for awareness these groups may pipe down a bit.

For the record i see the few pursuing this name change as attention whores as well.
He'd be accused of trying to buy them off. Whether he was, or not. So, I doubt it.

And, these attention whores, should they win, and have it upheld, will follow immediately with a suit against us, AND the NFL, for $$$million$, to ease all their pain and suffering.

:indian_chief:
 
I don't know - I could see Snyder saying 'screw it' even if he lost trademark rights, and taking the hit. Yes - I think he's that stubborn and I would actually love it. So tired of this PC bull****.

You're insane if you think Snyder would give up that revenue. Insane!
 
Didn't know this:



So...its basically in the bag for them, right? If Snyder loses exclusive rights, no chance he doesn't change the name.

Well, not really, because the decision can be appealed. It was appealed last time and Redskins won.

Lawyers find ways to do all sorts of things, so I wouldn't think either side has it in the bag.

I wouldn't be surprised if the judge(s) found this to be a lame tactic to circumvent the previous ruling and threw it out, but I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't either.
 
Surprised that lawyer over at pft doesn't have anything to say about this yet. 1st step to a better world, cull all lawyers by 75%
Posted via BGO Mobile Device
 
So, I wonder if those outraged at our team for using the Redskins mascot are going to say anything to Jeopardy for this:

860932_10151479202542439_2065562126_o_zpsbcf9f1bb.jpg
 

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