On March 7, 2013, the trademark cancellation suit against Pro-Football, Inc. which was filed by five Native Americans was heard by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office according to Blackhorse v. Pro-Football, Inc. (2014). As stated in Blackhorse v. Pro-Football, Inc. (2014), the group of individuals sought to cancel Pro-Football’s registrations of trademarks issued between 1967 and 1990 for trademarks consisting of whole or in part the term “REDSKINS” for any professional football related programs, promotions, and overall service uses. Specifically, six trademark registrations were at issue which include registration No. 0836122 for the mark “THE REDSKINS,” in the stylized form, No. 0978824 for the …show more content…
Pro-Football, Inc. (2014), the plaintiffs cited that their opposition to pro-football’s registration of the term “redskins” is based specifically upon the foundation that the registrations were obtained contrary to Section 2(a), 15 U.S.C. § 1052(a) of the Trademark Act of 1946, which forbids registration of marks that may mock or ridicule any person living or dead, or cause disrespect to any person in any manner to bring them into contempt or disrepute. The actual language of the plaintiffs’ attorneys state that the term “redskins” was disparaging to Native Americans, according to Blackhorse v. Pro-Football, Inc. …show more content…
Pro-Football, Inc. (2014). In addition, according to Blackhorse v. Pro-Football, Inc. (2014), the panel held that the term “redskins” is disparaging to Native Americans. The board went on to cite that disparagement to others was a reason that the term is rarely used since the 1960s according to Blackhorse v. Pro-Football, Inc. (2014). To determine disparagement, the Trademark board asked two questions which included, what is the meaning of the mark as it relates to the goods and services in the registration, and whether the meaning of marks may be deemed as disparaging as noted in Blackhorse v. Pro-Football, Inc. (2014). As evidence, according to Blackhorse v. Pro-Football, Inc. (2014), the plaintiffs submitted proof that for sixty years, sportswriters would reference “scalping,” when the football team lost a game, and the plaintiffs submitted passages from movies from the 1940s through the 1960s referring to Native Americans as “redskins.” In this case, the burden of proof was on the plaintiffs, who had to prove their claims by a preponderance of the evidence which according to Mayer, Warner, Siedel, & Liberman (2015), the plaintiff must prove that the events in the case “more likely than not” occurred the way plaintiff claims, rather than the way the defendant