The Washington Redskins have wrapped up their NFL season but as correspondent Alan Scaia reported, they may spend part of their winter in court. A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the government was wrong to reject trademark of names that are deemed offensive. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had ruled in June 2014 that because the Redskins name is offensive to Native Americans, the team could not trademark its name. It cited federal law that prohibited “registering scandalous, immoral, or disparaging” trademarks. The team and the NFL have been fighting to keep the trademark in place ever since. The Redskins never actually lost their trademarks: those protections were kept in place during the appeals process. The Court of Appeals ruling did not directly involve the Redskins. It ruled that an Asian American rock band called The Slants had the right to trademark protections even if some people were offended by the name.
