A group of five Native Americans sued the Washington Redskins last week before a three-judge panel on the Trademark and Trial Appeal Board to try to get to force the football team to change its name because it is disparaging to Native Americans.
According to reports, the petitioners must prove the the Redskins name was “disparaging, scandalous, contemptuous or disreputable” to a “significant population of American Indians back when the team was granted the trademarks from 1967 to 1990.”
Redskins general manager Bruce Allen said it was “ludicrous” that the team was trying to offend Native Americans and said he would not respond to whether the name is offensive because, “I don’t know if it’s been proven.”
The Associated Press notes there “won’t be a resolution any time soon” because though lawyers expect judges to “take as long as a year to issue a ruling, and the Redskins are sure to appeal if it doesn’t go their way,” in a similar case the Redskins won it took 17 years for them to eventually win on a technicality.
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