U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court Won’t Decide Challenge to Redskins Name
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal that claims the trademark for the Washington Redskins name should have been denied because it is racially disparaging.
The legal issue was whether a trademark challenge based on offensiveness can be dismissed for being filed too late, the Wall Street Journal reports. Amicus briefs filed by law and psychology professors had argued there should be no time bar to trademark challenges to names that do public damage.
The challenge was filed in 1992, even though the trademark was registered in 1967. The lower courts had ruled the claim was barred by the doctrine of laches, the Washington Post reports.
The case is Suzan Harjo v. Pro-Football Inc.
