{"id":1600,"date":"2016-10-31T19:10:16","date_gmt":"2016-10-31T23:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/jsel\/?p=1600"},"modified":"2023-07-25T11:59:43","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T15:59:43","slug":"trademark-issue-on-hold-in-the-nations-capital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/jsel\/2016\/10\/trademark-issue-on-hold-in-the-nations-capital\/","title":{"rendered":"Trademark Issue on Hold in the Nation\u2019s Capital"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"redskins\"<\/a><\/p>\n

According to Forbes<\/a>, the well-publicized legal battle over the emblem for the NFL\u2019s Washington Redskins has been put on hold. Recently, a federal appeals court delayed the case involving the legality of the team\u2019s trademarked mascot and its controversial \u201cRedskins\u201d name. After unsuccessfully petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their case, the professional football team\u2019s counsel asked a Fourth Circuit Court to postpone a hearing scheduled for December 9th<\/sup>. They argued that that SCOTUS is soon to release a decision<\/a> in Lee v. Tam<\/u>, a case that could have a direct impact on the case against the Redskins. The issue in Lee v. Tam<\/u> involves the \u201cdisparagement provision of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. \u00a7 1052(a), which provides that no trademark shall be refused registration on account of its nature unless,\u00a0inter alia<\/em>, it \u2018[c]onsists of . . . matter which may disparage . . . persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt, or disrepute\u2019 is facially invalid under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.\u201d The team\u2019s counsel noted<\/a> that it would be \u201cinefficient and wasteful\u201d to have oral arguments in the Fourth Circuit at this time and the Justice Department, representing the Patent and Trademark Office and the five Native-Americans challenging the team\u2019s trademarks, did not oppose the postponement request. The Redskins have raised five major issues in the Fourth Circuit and if in the Tam case SCOTUS were to rule the disparagement law constitutional, only two of those issues raised will likely proceed.<\/p>\n

Nick Aquart is a Sports Highlight Contributor for the Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law and a current first year student at Harvard Law School (Class of 2019).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to Forbes, the well-publicized legal battle over the emblem for the NFL\u2019s Washington Redskins has been put on hold. Recently, a federal appeals court delayed the case involving the legality of the team\u2019s trademarked mascot and its controversial \u201cRedskins\u201d name. After unsuccessfully petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their case, the professional football 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