On Wednesday, the U.S. Patent Office did something awesome and much overdue, and cancelled six Washington Redskins trademarks. It's about time, and Twitter is buzzing with support for the decision; hashtags like #NewRedskinsName are taking off. The cancellation of doesn't officially mean the team can't use the name, but it could act as a significant financial deterrent if the team is unable to overturn the Patent Office's decision.
But in a pretty obnoxious move, the Redskins team is fighting back. Bob Raskopf, the trademark attorney for the Redskins, issued a statement on Wednesday:
We’ve seen this story before. And just like last time, today’s ruling will have no effect at all on the team’s ownership of and right to use the Redskins name and logo.
Raskopf is right that about one thing: This isn't the first time the U.S. Patent Office has tried to prevent them from using the name. According to ThinkProgress, In 1992, the Patent Office decided the name was offensive, but the decision was overruled.
Hoping that doesn't happen again, many are coming out publicly in favor of the Patent Office's decision, using hashtags like #NewRedskinsName and #WSJRedskinsRename to show their support.
