Washington Red-----...
They began as the Boston Braves in 1932, playing their home games at Fenway Park. Utilizing the same Park, different sport, were two baseball teams, the Boston Braves (now Atlanta Braves) and the Boston Red Sox. In an effort to separate itself and avoid any looming trademark concerns from the then popular Boston Braves, the football team changed its name in only its second season to the Boston Redskins.
The reason for the name change has never been made official, however, most attribute it to then coach Lone Star Dietz (part Sioux) and the few American Indian players the team had on its 1933 roster. In 1937 the team moved to Washington and had relatively no trouble until 1992. In that year an American Indian group filed a petition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) to cancel all team trademark registrations that contain the word “Redskins,” due to its disparaging nature. The USPTO obliged but a reversal was awarded for the team in federal court.
In 2006 a new suit was filed, and a suit which most anticipate to be resolved in the coming year. In order to cancel the Team’s trademark registrations the American Indian group would have to prove that the name was derogatory in the eyes of a substantial portion of the American Indian community when the Redskins trademarks were registered. All marks were registered between the years of 1967 and 1990. Even assuming the American Indian group prevails in its new trademark suit, the Washington Redskins still have the right to use that title as no ruling would disrupt the Team’s First Amendment Rights. The question becomes, will owner Dan Snyder, who has said he will not change the name, succumb to the masses if he indeed loses the fight?