The Department of Justice filed an argument in federal court Monday endorsing the United States Patent and Trademark Office's decision to cancel the Washington Redskins registered trademark, according to a report from Lindsey Adler of BuzzFeed News.
In the wake of the patent office's decision in June 2014 to cancel six federal trademark registrations for the name of the Washington Redskins after determining it was "disparaging to Native Americans," team owner Dan Snyder filed suit against the Native American activists who put forth the initial complaint, citing violation of the franchise's rights to free speech.
Snyder and the team retain the rights to the name while the decision is appealed, according to Adler, but the DOJ apparently feels, as shown by their argument, that the act of registering a trademark in and of itself limits the use of free speech by others, meaning the Redskins First Amendment-based argument is flawed.
(Pro-Football, Inc. or PFI is the name used by the team for business and legal matters.)
"Indeed, PFI and the ACLU both admit that canceling PFI's registrations would result in reducing PFI's ability to restrict the speech of others. [...] These admissions doom PFI's First Amendment argument. Making it "easier for other people" to use words and symbols, and allowing them to do so without first obtaining a license from PFI, means that more speech would be legally permitted by canceling the registrations."
The DOJ also believes the Redskins engaged in "unsupported, whopping hyperbole" when arguing that enforcement of trademark rights becomes "exponentially more burdensome" without a federal registration, stating that a "registration adds little and possible no value to a widely known trademark."
The Redskins and the ACLU also argued that the Lanham Act - which prohibits the government from registering trademarks for language that disparages a group's racial identity - is both flimsy and inconsistently applied, per Adler.
The DOJ defended the merits and invocation of the Lanham Act.
"While it may have other substantial interests as well, the Government certainly has a substantial interest in dissociating itself from commercial trademarks that may disparage fellow American citizens or others, especially marks that may disparage based on ethnicity or race."
The DOJ also denies the Redskins claim that losing the trademark registrations will cause a severe loss to the value of their brand, instead contending that Snyder and the franchise may retain the name and logo, but will simply no longer have the exclusive rights once afforded to them.
Per Adler, a hearing between the two sides is scheduled for June 24.
