Ad Disclosure
A Philly-Based Law Firm Filed the Suit That Stripped the Redskins’ Trademarks
By Jim Adair
Published:
Yesterday, in one of the bigger national news stories, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled against the Washington Redskins in a suit asking for a cancellation of their trademarks. The case, formally called Blackhorse v. Pro-Football Inc., was brought be a group of Native Americans claiming that the Redskins’ trademarks cannot be upheld because the name is disparaging. And while a lawyer for the Redskins told the AP they’d appeal (essentially putting any cancellation of trademarks on hold for now), we think it’s worth mentioning that the law firm who represented the plaintiffs pro bono is based locally:
“Four lawyers from the Washington office of Philadelphia-based Drinker Biddle & Reath represented the plaintiffs on a pro bono basis. The firm filed the case in 2006 on behalf of Native Americans Amanda Blackhorse, Phillip Glover, Marcus Briggs-Cloud, Jillian Pappan and Courtney Tsotigh, who sought cancellation of six trademark registrations of the Washington football team, on grounds that the term “redskin” disparages Native Americans.”
That’s some NFC East justice.
h/t Philadelphia Business Journal
GIF via SB Nation
When he's not writing about sports here or ranting about them on Twitter, Jim is probably watching X-Files on Netflix or drinking a beer somewhere. Jim has nothing against hockey, it's just not his style. He once met Duce Staley at a Sixers game.